Since 2007, Riley Hospital for Children has had a special relationship with the Miss America Organization
The Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant is proud of the close relationship we’ve had with our local Children’s’ Miracle Network Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, since 2007.
Every year during Miss Indiana week in June, our Miss Indiana and Miss Indiana’s Outstanding Teen contestants get to visit Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. They get to meet patients, physicians and staff members and learn about all the miracles that Riley and CMN Hospitals make every day, and they leave with an even greater dedication to this wonderful institution and fund-raising organization.
In addition to the thousands of dollars and countless volunteer hours our Miss Indiana family has provided for Riley, our Miss Indiana and Miss Indiana’s Outstanding Teen contestants spend time at Riley every year during Miss Indiana week. They get to meet patients, physicians and staff members and learn of all the miracles that Riley and CMN Hospitals make every day, and they leave with an even greater dedication to this wonderful institution.
Miss Indiana 2016, Brianna DeCamp, has spent nearly every Wednesday afternoon since November volunteering at Riley in their School Program, in which she works with four to five Riley patients each week – kindergarten through high school age – to help them keep up with their studies during treatment. Since Brianna has degree in special education from Miami University in Ohio, she finds this service to be wonderfully rewarding and is inspired by these children every time she sees them.
“I have so much fun focusing all my attention on one student at a time and I’ve developed such great relationships with so many of these amazing kiddos,” Brianna said.
Brianna and all of our Miss Indiana contestants are thankful for the sense of purpose they receive by getting to know about all the wonderful things that Riley Hospital and CMN Hospitals are doing every day, “For the Kids.”
Former Miss Indiana and Miss America 2009, Indiana’s own Katie Stam Irk, loves hosting Riley Kids at one of our preliminary nights of competition at Miss Indiana every year. They are introduced onstage and talk about how Riley and CMN have helped them recover. Here, Katie is pictured with one of our favorite former Riley Champions, Mickey Deputy, who has become a member of our Miss Indiana family!
CMN Hospitals was officially named the Miss America Organization’s national platform in 2007. Since then, the partnership has raised more than $15 million, benefiting member CMN Hospitals across the U.S., as well as Miss America scholarships.
Learn more about Miss America Serves here.