On May 12th, 2015, Miss Florida 2014, Victoria Cowen, greeted several homeowners in Miami's Buena Vista neighborhood, during Meet Miss Florida Day, presented by Badazz Foundation 501c3. Miss Florida also took a walking and driving tour with Badazz Founder Carol Storms and her entourage, to see how the community empowerment organization restores abandoned homes into so called Badazz Crybz. Storms says Badazz Foundation is dedicated to ending urban blight and empowering residents to restore and beautify their communities. Miss Florida also shared the details of her own community service projects.
"The Miss Florida Organization commends Carol Storms and her organization, the Badazz Foundation, on the efforts to restore neighborhoods in Miami and create a safer and more beautiful environment for all. Carol has the vision and the fortitude to turn abandoned homes into habitable residences for the area’s residents and thereby improving their quality of life," said Mary Sullivan, Executive Director, Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant.
"It has been our distinct honor to introduce Miss Florida 2014 to our Badazz Volunteers and showcase the work we've done, Storms said.
Badazz is an acronym which stands for Building, Altruistic, Dynamic, Able-bodied, Zealous, Zeniths. Founder Carol Storms in partnership with representatives from the Miss Florida Pageant, host the yearly meet and greet.
"Meeting the people, seeing the houses, the before and after; it's just a testimony to what you are doing and the impact you are having on the neighborhood, the people, and lives," Cowen told Badazz Founder Carol Storms during an interview on the tour. "You're changing lives, she said."
Victoria Cowen Miss Florida 2014, is a senior at Florida State University majoring in Marketing and Professional Sales. She won the Miss Florida title in June 2014 when she competed with 49 other young women for the opportunity to represent the Sunshine State and an educational scholarship of $18,000.00. As Miss Florida she travels the state promoting her personal platform,
One Chance, One Choice, Inc. She is a state ambassador for Miss America’s national platform partner, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and is the Face of the Miss Florida Organization. Victoria serves as a spokesperson for the Everglades Foundation advocating the protection and restoration of America’s Everglades.
Victoria was Florida’s representative at the 2015 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was selected as the third runner up, preliminary swimsuit winner, and recipient of the Charles & Teresa Brown Scholarship. Through her participation in the Miss Florida and the Miss America Pageant, Victoria has won $37,500.00 for her educational assistance.
Victoria will crown her successor, Miss Florida 2015, on June 20, 2015, at the Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. This is the Miss Florida Pageant’s 80th Anniversary celebration – Shining Bright since 1935!
The Miss America Organization is the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of nation’s largest achievement programs. The Organization provides young women with a microphone to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of service through a variety of community-based programs.
Click the video below to view scenes from the Meet Miss Florida Day Event.
To interview Miss Florida 2014 Victoria Cowen and/or Carol Storms, Founder of Badazz Foundation, contact Tandi Wilder at SheGotGame Media (305) 520-9703 or sggmedia305@gmail.com.
