BY NIKKI BROSIUS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Pageant photos from previous events.
A local nonprofit, Angels Among Us, is gearing up for this year’s Beauty pageant. A benefit to raise funds will be held at One More on the River, Sunday April 30th at 2 p.m. There will be raffle prizes, 50/50 raffle, silent auction, and a motorcycle ride in. This is a Family Day event and all ages are welcome.
One More on the River is located at 4330 River Oaks Road in Millbrook. There will be live music by Jeff Roberts, and food plates will also available. Tickets for all of the drawings and raffles are available from sponsors or at One More on the River up to the day of the event.
If you know of someone who would like to participate in the pageant event, contact Musette at (334) 430 – 2991.
The fundraiser for April 30th is sponsored by One More on the River and God Speed Biker Ministries.
This year’s pageant will be held on Saturday May 20th. With growing support, the hope is that the event will grow into a bigger event. Angels Among Us is already taking donations, asking for vendors and volunteers to come out and make it a great event! Last chance contestant and volunteer sign up information will be available at the Benefit April 20th. You can learn more about Angels Among Us and upcoming events from their Facebook page or website. They will be posting information about events that are in and around our area you may be interested in.
Each year Angels Among us hosts their first annual beauty pageant for special needs children and adults. This pageant is special because it brought in children and adults of all ages from all around the River Region that have special needs or developmental delays. Contestants are split into age groups for the day. All of the contestants will be from the tri-county area and attend locals schools or training programs.
Participants are in formal wear, and the event showcases many talents, from singing, dancing, playing instruments, or other skills.
Angels Among Us was founded in 2018 by Musette Hankins. Musette and her husband Michael have five children and live in the River Region. Michael Hankins is an active-duty soldier at the Alabama National Guard Headquarters.
Musette started this program in order for their daughter Mikayla to have the opportunity to participate in cheerleading and be a part of sports and events that any other child could do.
Mikalya had a stroke in utero and was born with cerebral palsy. She underwent brain surgery in 2015 and will continue to have developmental delays as a result. As Mikalya got older Musette started to see there were few, if any, programs in place that supported special needs children in the area.
From there Angels Among Us grew to include people of all ages with disabilities. The cheer team goes during halftime of local sporting events and performs for local schools and community games. Part of the nonprofit assists parents by providing support they need raising their children. The program provides services like sitting with parents/caregivers during school for IEP (Individual Education Planning) meetings, helping parents focus on their path forward in their child’s education. Other types of assistance include learning legal rights, your child’s legal rights, and any other areas of concerns they may have as parents/caregivers.
The program also gives the parents and caregivers a chance to have access to classes like CPR free of charge. This is all possible through donations and volunteers such as special needs teachers, local healthcare workers and the community.
While their main goal is that the children enjoy these planned monthly activities, the hope is that the parents/caregivers will be able to interact with each other and bring more ideas that will help to foster and grow the mission. They would like to have a dance, get involved in more sporting events, and build communication skills as well as interaction amongst our children.
From Founder Musette Hankins – “My mission was to start something that would include every child and adult with special needs. We strive to give them every opportunity to do things just like everyone else. Show them they matter, give them a voice, and just provide outlets that bring them joy, while making sure their parents and caregivers had extra resources and support from other parents like me. Our goal is to hold monthly events for our children to participate in and interact with each other. We hope to plan events that will be of little to no cost to enjoy.”
Angels Among Us is a 501C3 nonprofit and any donations can be used for tax purposes.
For more information about this program, you can follow them on Facebook or use the link to their website.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1424246494374412
