Outstanding Teen and Child Advocate - Izabella Arndt
Abandoned as a small child in China, Izabella was adopted by loving parents who brought her back to Iowa, where she has thrived in pageants and become an advocate for foster care and refugee children.
Transcript
Hi, my name is Izabella Arndt.
I am a child advocate and Miss Blackhawk
Valley's outstanding teen.
I believe that my purpose is to
go out and share my traumatic story
no matter if I'm having a hard day
or it's an easy way to go out.
This is something that I need to do
because I can help so many more.
Being in foster care is really hard.
70 children a week go into the Iowa foster
care system and that is such an outrageous number.
And I hope to grow my program
where I'm able to donate 70 backpacks a week
because every child deserves to have the comfort
while they're going through this crazy time.
This is my social impact initiative for Miss Iowa,
Miss Blackhawk Valley and out.
Miss Blackhawk Valley's outstanding teen
is...contestant number two...
I won Miss Blackhawk Valley's outstanding teen. The Miss Iowa
I have learned how to find confidence in myself
and be okay with who I am and my story.
Congratulations, ladies.
I started competing
in scholarship competitions when I was around five.
And we originally started these because I was a Velcro kid
and I would not go to throw a piece of trash away
that was like five feet away from my parents.
These competitions has helped me
grow and learn lifelong skills.
I started my program when I was turning ten.
My very first year, I was able to donate
39 backpacks to my partner Four Oaks Family Connections.
These backpacks have blankets, coloring books.
Crayons, a journal, pens,
the necessary toiletries like a toothbrush, toothpaste
and a hairbrush.
When I first was brought home, I was scared of the dark.
I was scared to be by myself at all times.
And so having that flashlight,
you're able to see that you're in a safe location.
And it's not just pitch black.
All of these items are something that you would take to go
to grandma's house for the weekend.
Since I got the backpack of comfort items as a child,
I know that these backpacks really work.
Being able to go to a complete stranger's
home with this backpack,
you feel like you have something that is yours
and you're not just walking in empty handed.
I was abandoned at around
ten months old in China in a electrical company...
...And then
I was brought to an orphanage on the outskirts of Shiyan City.
And there I was able to get open heart surgery.
And I also was lucky to test out of hep C
about a year later, I was adopted by this
amazing couple and they have helped me so much.
And actually on my adoption day
they brought a backpack full of comfort items.
In there, there was a toy keychain
and it played this sound on one of the buttons.
It made the sound of a rickshaw,
and that was such a comforting noise.
And so I still have it sitting next to my bed to this day.
When I'm able to talk about my story,
I'm able to share that no matter
how traumatic your situation is,
it doesn't matter as long as you come out of it stronger
and you are able to turn your trauma into something amazing.
This is something I've been doing since I was ten
and I've been advocating
for children since I was five and I will continue to do this
no matter what happens in the future.
I want to be a family lawyer because I understand the trauma
that these kids are going through.
Be kind to everyone because you don't
know what battles someone right next to you is fighting.