Running For the Cause

BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES

Amina Lowery has a dream of following in the footsteps of Vanessa Williams, who became the first Black woman to become Miss America.

Amina Lowery (right) is the new Miss West Volusia County USA 2012. She is shown with Emily McLeod, Miss Teen West Volusia County USA 2012.

Lowery, a Daytona Beach native, however, wants to be crowned Miss USA. She recently won the Miss West Volusia County USA contest and is slated to compete in July for the Miss Florida USA title.

The journey to make it to the top is an expensive one and Lowery is looking for sponsors to help make her dream come true.

"Expenses include coaching, hair, makeup, fitness training, and of course, pageant attire. You name it and it’s probably an expense. I’m working to raise the money by meeting with local businesses and working out sponsorships contracts of some sort," Lowery told the Times.

State contest
is in July

Lowery is the daughter of Wallace and Valerie Whitney, who is immediate past president of the Daytona Beach Section of National Council of Negro Women

The competition is in Hollywood, Fla., in July. The preliminary round is July 15 and the final round is July 16.

Lowery has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education and is currently pursuing her master’s in Science for Healthcare Administration.

Her first pageant was the Miss Daytona Beach Teen pageant while she was still in high school.

"I didn’t win, but I was hooked. I tried out for another one in college and didn’t win that one either. But, it was an amazing experience and gave me the confidence to keep going, Lowery said.

Second attempt at
Florida title

Lowery’s first title was Miss Black Central Florida for 2009.

Her next big break came last year when she competed for Miss Marion County USA and won.

She went on to the Miss Florida USA last summer, but didn’t win. That hasn’t stopped her from trying again.

After the first Miss Florida attempt, Amina said she realized that a lot more goes into pageantry than she thought.

"Women who compete in this contest take this very seriously and train as hard as an athlete would. I run five days a week and do strength training twice a week. I work a little every day to help a lot of this become secondary in nature," she explained.

An advocate for
health research

"Even though we are competing for the same title, we learn that the only person we are competing against is ourselves. Pageants also are a good way to bring attention to causes that you feel strongly about and make more people aware of issues," continued Lowery.

Her platform is universal advocacy in which she has titled "Running for the Cause.’’

"I feel that every cause is personal to those it affects and many of these can be helped through research and preventative measures. I pledged to be at every awareness and fundraising walk or run I can attend to and one of my goals is to run a half marathon before Miss Florida in July," she added.

Lowery has a blog called runningforthecause.blogspot.com that she updates with events that she has done so far into her reign.

Her career goal is to work in the health industry as an administrator.

"It’s my way of getting both the business side and the health side combined," she concluded.