LOCAL WOMAN TO COMPETE FOR MISS MISSOURI VOLUNTEER

Jaclyn Sexauer, Miss Cape Girardeau, to for state title and over $26,000 in scholarships

Kirkwood, MO, January 7, 2023 — Jaclyn Sexauer, Miss Cape Girardeau, a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University and SEMO Sundancer, will compete for the title of Miss Missouri Volunteer at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in Kirkwood, Missouri January 6-7, 2023. The Miss Missouri Volunteer Pageant is proud to announce it will be giving away over $25,000 in scholarships in its second year.

With philanthropy and scholarship at the forefront, each woman must have a platform (cause or charity of her choosing) that she will champion. Jaclyn’s platform is “The War Inside: Normalizing Mental Illness in our Nation’s Heroes.” Through her platform she has worked with the Wounded Warrior Project, the Veteran’s United Foundation, and the Veteran’s Home of Cape Girardeau. Jaclyn says she feels a personal connection to her platform because, “my grandpa (Pops) was a Vietnam War Veteran and he passed away from a fast-acting dementia, that was worsened by untreated mental illness. Though people are becoming more aware of the issue, there is still a stigma surrounding individuals displaying their emotions outwardly, especially in the older generations.”

Jaclyn will be competing in the areas of interview, talent, evening gown, and fitness and wellness. For the talent portion of the competition, she will be performing a dance to Buenos Aries. If she wins, she will go on to compete at the Miss Volunteer America Pageant in Jackson, Tennessee where nearly $200,000 in scholarships will be awarded.

The Miss Volunteer America Organization is a nationwide, service-oriented scholarship program based in Tennessee that seeks to empower young women across the country. It focuses on the five points of its crown, S.E.R.V.E., which signify service, education, responsibility, volunteerism, and empowerment. In 2019, Miss Tennessee Volunteer left the Miss America program and founded their own statewide program. Allison DeMarcus, together with a group of dedicated volunteers, expanded that into Miss Volunteer America making it a nationwide program in early 2021. Through educational scholarships and extraordinary opportunities, the program seeks to empower young women across the country. Miss Volunteer America motivates contestants to create their own unique definition of beauty, the firm belief that nothing is more beautiful than that of a good heart. That belief system is the inspiration and bedrock for the Volunteer program.