Somer McNeil wants to become Miss Teen Canada World — and she’s looking for community support to help her do that. The 18-year-old was crowned Miss Teen Comox Valley World earlier this month after she competed in Vancouver at the provincial level.”I was so excited,” McNeil said of the moment she won the title. “I was just beaming and it just felt so good to get that crown on my head.”Now, McNeil is preparing to head off to the national competition, which will be in Toronto from July 14 to 22.In order to attend, she needs to raise a minimum of $400 for Free the Children, an organization that promotes children helping children through education and empowerment.While she is not supposed to start this fundraising until closer to the competition date, some ideas McNeil has come up with so far are: car washes, bake sales, and a picnic at her church.She also needs to raise just under $3,000 for her competition entrance fee, and plans to approach local businesses, “big and small,” to sponsor her.McNeil said part of the competition is based on community involvement, and she said she will host events and volunteer in the Comox Valley during the lead-up to the competition.However, volunteering and community involvement is nothing new for McNeil.”I’ve always been involved in my community,” said McNeil. “I attend the Comox Valley United Church, and I’m part of the youth group there and we do a lot of community activities. I’ve also done volunteer projects in Nicaragua and Guatemala.”In fact, McNeil had planned to go back to Nicaragua this June but couldn’t because of the cost of the trip. After deciding not to go, she started looking for other volunteer opportunities for youth and Miss Teen Canada World came up in the top three hits online.McNeil applied just one week before the provincial competition and only had a Skype interview with the pageant director before heading off to Vancouver and becoming Miss Teen Comox Valley World.McNeil said she’s not the typical beauty pageant competitor, describing herself as more of a “jeans and runners” girl. She even asked for heel-wearing advice on her blog, but did wear heeled shoes for the provincial competition.”I had to wear heels the whole time in Vancouver and, oh man, it hurt my feet,” McNeil confided. But, “I can walk, apparently pretty good cause I made it this far. I’m definitely going to be practising though before nationals.”McNeil has been in gymnastics for eight years, and teaches kinder gymnastics. She also plays other sports, piano and flute, paints and spends as much time outside as she can. To sponsor McNeil or for more information on her and the competition, visit her blog at www.missteencomoxvalley.com.”So far, it’s been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see what else happens,” said McNeil. writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com

Comox Valley Record