I met Kurt Bestor and Jason Castro :)

    This was an annual benefit concert for cancer services at McKay-Dee Hospital. It’s held in the memory of Jaynie Nye who died of cancer in 1981 at only 15 years old. Her family began a tradition of raising funds for cancer services since her death. McKay-Dee Hospital Foundation and musician Kurt Bestor joined these efforts many years ago.

These are just some of the volunteers.  

I also ran into a very dear friend of mine! Lindsay Farr, Miss Weber County, my roommate from Miss Utah!

   This was such a fun experience! There were so many individuals involved that made this a stunning and successful event. Some of which were Kurt Bestor, Jason Castro (top 10 American Idol 2008), Martina Wardle (Miss Utah Rodeo), and our very own Christina Lowe (Miss Utah 2010), as well as many other local queens including myself. The evening began with a silent auction, which the queens were able to help with. So many beautiful things were donated in this auction that I was disappointed I couldn’t bid myself! After a few hours of the auction the marvelous dinner began. Toward the end of the dinner a live auction was held. It was incredible to see how generous people were in their bids. The night ended with a phenomenal concert held by the one and only KURT BESTOR! He is so talented, humorous and a true philanthropist. During intermission, myself and the other queens collected more donations for this touching cause. 

Finding Yourself Through Service

Well, if you're here reading this blog, you probably want to know more about my platform, "Find Yourself Through Service." The concept is simple but, the impact can be incredible. I've lived my whole life believing that the best way to connect to your fellow man is to offer meaningful service. I've seen it in my own life and the lives of others. Over the past couple years as I've served my community, I've come to learn how important it is for young students to engage early and often in service. It will help them grow in their social ties, self-esteem, and spirituality. To help these students engage, I've designed a special program that shares a name with my platform. The "Find Yourself Through Service" campaign has helped many school kids, local businesses and civic office holders to connect to their greater community and improve upon an already loved Davis County.

With this simple three step plan, we can make a great difference!

1. Get students involved: I've been visiting local schools for over a year now, encouraging students to participate in all sorts of service to their family, friends, and community. For each hour a student completes, they get to fill out a slip of paper and loop it to an ever-growing chain of service for their school.
2. Get businesses involved: Local businesses can pledge certain dollar amounts to charity for every hour of service that students complete. The more service the students give, the more charitable our local businesses can be. Local media outlets can also help promote this kind of service.
3. Get the community (YOU) involved: So, your students, your friends and your family are all involved in making their world a better one. You can too! Of course, you can always find ways to serve those around you and I encourage you to do that! We have upcoming charity and service events that you can get involved with so, shoot me an email and we'll get you involved! (cierapekarcik@yahoo.com)

If you need ideas for service, have charity or service events that need help, would like to start a service chain at your school, or want to share your stories of service, let me know and I'll help in any way I can! I'm excited to serve by your side!

Ciera Pekarcik,

Miss Davis County 2010