“A message of resilience” – The Sun Newspapers

Amanda Peacock competed in her fifth race for Miss New Jersey earlier this month.

It’s a competition to which she has devoted her time and energy for 11 years, after having tasted pageantry at 13 years old.

Elizabeth Mendel, 22, of the Cape May Courthouse, won the competition. Peacock competed as Miss Seashore Line. Ahead of the competition held at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City earlier this month, Peacock shared his excitement.

“An important lesson I have learned in my five years of competing that I want to reflect on is a message of resilience,” she noted. “If I could describe in one word why I do this year after year, it’s resilience. This shows that I am not giving up on a dream.

Peacock said preparing for the competition is different from year to year.

“I came into the competition this year very differently,” she explained, with nothing important but keeping her mind and body healthy through personal training and healthy eating.

Since her first competition eight years ago, Peacock has been named Miss Gloucester County Teen for 2014 and 2015, Miss Atlantic Shores Teen for 2016, Miss Veterans Day 2018, Miss Northern Lakes 2019 and Miss South Jersey for 2022. She has competed under the name Miss Harbor Shores. Last year.

The competitions gave Peacock a voice for a cause close to her heart: the Toni and RJ Foundation. A lifelong Williamstown resident — except when she attended Montclair State University — Peacock was drawn to what happened to Toni Donato Bolis in 2011.

Bolis was just 28 years old and pregnant when she was killed in a car crash caused by a distracted driver using a cell phone. She was less than a mile from home and less than 36 hours away from giving birth to her son and second child, Ryan Jeffrey, or RJ.

The crash occurred on Pitman-Downer Road in Washington Township when the distracted driver suddenly crossed into oncoming traffic. After missing two other cars, he crashed head-on into Bolis’ SUV, according to the foundation’s website. The Toni and RJ Foundation was later established in memory of Bolis and his son.

Just 13 years old at the time of Bolis’ death, Peacock used her competitions as a platform to raise awareness about distracted driving, partnering with the foundation and its mission to educate drivers about distracted driving. flying by publicly sharing Toni and RJ’s story in schools and other public forums.

Peacock continues to advocate against texting and driving. Last year, she gave presentations about her cause at schools and worked with a local lawmaker to advocate for tougher penalties against distracted drivers.