[Community-Service] Challenged Accepted? ❤️👀🎥 💣

Tue Apr 21 04:34:08 UTC 2020

“A true diva is graceful and talented and strong and fearless and brave and someone with humility. “ - Beyonce

Lights, Camera, Action! Slay with me as I introduce Ms. Blind Diva with Eyes like Mines, Krystle Allen to the runway.  “You better work girl!” New Jersey’s Trailblazer is who she is, leading the way for blind woman to live the life they want. Krystle is the perfect model of beauty inside out. She is the real Cover Girl who uplift Queens! 

“WE DO IT BIGGER & BETTER!” NFB Community Service Division Challenge  Accepted! 

Krystle AKA Diamond Princess’s Reflection

September  27 and 28 2019,Newark,NJ Ms. Blind Diva Empowerment Pageant Experience  The mission of the Ms. Blind Diva Empowerment Pageant is to empower women with vision loss by providing tools to encourage and cultivate their daily life experiences. This is a fellowship program that offers a variety of seminars facilitated by trained professionals in the areas of public speaking, model coaching,  life coaching, image photo shoots, community service, and independant you tube challenges to showcase the abilities of the women competing for the title.My responsibilities involve organizing the 12-16 week program from beginning to end. I have scheduled team meetings to coordinate the intricate functions of the pageant. I recruit on socil media, public service announcements with local municipal officials such as our council president who was the first african american braille teacher in NJ. I develop and research sponsors to support the women participating in the fellowship. I prepare and distribute food for the seminar sessions as well as the main event finale. I connect with local radio dj.s and t.v. Content creators to assist with promoting the event or hosting. I also arrange a pre celebration the day before the finale event to recognize the hard work of the volunteers involved, the guest speakers involved, and the most importantly the courageous women who happen to be blind that make the fellowship what it is a platform to empower women! Every woman who participates leaves with memories for a lifetime to reflect on. Within this fellowship there is a community service initiative we call purses with purpose to fill new or gently used pocket books by our participants to donate to local women shelters to encourage the recipients during their time of transition. The finale build up to a community event that reaches the entire state of NJ and some parts of Pennsylvania on t.v., hundreds of social media participants on facebook,twitter,instagram, and youtube. Once the finale event occurs there are usually 150-200 attendees who will leave with a new perspective on what it means to be a woman who happens to be vision impaired,blind, or deaf blind.

It was a rewarding experience for me. I am currently approaching my 4th year of planning this program even during the midst of the Corona Virus to continuing empowering my community to rise to the occassion. I have always had big dreams starting as a little girl and carrying out my ambitions for this platform let me see what it really means to have faith and detrmination.I would have never thought that losing my vision.  Would bring me a renewed vision for all of the opportunities I encounter and the people I am blessed to know and continue to meet. For my community, it continues to bring awareness that people who are vision impaired or blind or with any disability for that matter are just that people first. This fellowship is not just about beauty and fashion. It is about extending one’s self to outsiders looking in. When you give of yourself to any one it is a selfless act that can not be returned but it will always be remembered. Our 2019 titleholeder, stood the test of time and her outcome was recieving the title for one year,a blinged out crown, a golden sash, two dozen roses, a one year free subscription to audible with an amazon alexa device, an orcam smart camera device valued at $4500, and a cash prize of $750 to use at her discretion.

The callenging part of this project was when I was going out to request sponsorships door to door on my own time after work. I was involved in a head on car collission. I was terrified this happened in April 2019. Our original date for the pageant was scheduled for June 2019.This was the first car accident I had ever been in. It delayed the completion of my project because i had to recieve physical therapy 5 days a week to heal. Some people doubted me in wondering if I would still be able to execute the finale of this program. Some people complained and even left assisting me or participating because of their doubts with no notice even. The rewarding part was that my faith and determination and the blessings of the most high guided me to reorganize and still complete the project by extending time to produce quality in September.I remember in one of the photoshoots I put together I recognized mom’s who happen to be blind by provding a photoshoot session for the parent and their children which included sponsored make up prep from Mary Kay consultants and lunch provided by Subway free of charge.there were so many rewarding moments in putting this project together but the photoshoot for the moms and their children and donating to St. Rocco’s women’s shelter with our purses with purpose program was most rewarding. Some of the parents in our photoshoott had never had professional picture with their children before and some of the women in the St. Rocco’s shelter never met soomeone who is blind before which encouraged them to have a different perspective on their own challenges.
View photos: https://youtu.be/YdElsdaxtO4

Thank you Krystle for your service and participation.  The Community Service Division appreciate your volunteer work in your community as well with the division. You bring positive energy that inspire all of us to work even harder. May God bless you for your tremendous initiatives. 

Sent from my iPhone
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