Preserve America's Adopt a Soldier Program

Preserve America is a volunteer organization that I started back in 2007 based on my belief that volunteering is one of our Nation's core values that we must preserve for the future. Over the years, I have organized several projects to benefit differnt charities. My most recent endeavor helps to benefit Adopt A US Soldier (http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/)

How Can I Help?

1. Adopt A Soldier: Adopting your own soldier is a very rewarding experience and you would be making a huge difference in someone's life. This is a commitment. Please do not adopt a soldier if you do not have time to write him/her several times a month and send care packages at least monthly. If you can make this commitment, please go to www.adoptaussoldier.org and fill out the application to adopt a soldier.
2. Donate Funds or Care Package Items: My soldier is stationed on a remote base with limited access to goods he needs. I do my best to provide him with items, but his entire platoon is in need of goods and it is difficult and costly for me to send support for them all on my own. A list of the items that are needed is on our Facebook page as well as on www.adoptaussoldier.org. If you can help with either a monetary contribution for care package items or with the items themselves, we may be able to adopt the entire platoon!
3. Write Letters: Being so far away from home is difficult for soldiers to cope with. By sending letters, we remind them that they are not forgotten and that their sacrifices are worth it. This is something you can do whenever you have the time and I will mail them to a soldier for you.

Mail items, funds, and/or letters to:
Kayla Sulla
Attn: Adopt a Soldier
PO Box 4051
Great Neck, NY 11023

If making a monetary contribution by check, please write the checks out to either cash or to Kayla Sulla, as I am the one purchasing the care package items. If you would like to know what items were purchased with your contribution, please provide an e-mail address.

For more information, contact me here or visit our Facebook page which you can access by clicking on the title of this blog.

Nationals 2009 Results

I apologize for being unable to finish my detailed blogs about Nationals. I did an amazing job - here are the results!







2nd Runner-Up for the overall title of National American Miss!!!

1st Runner-Up Miss Top Model


1st Runner-Up Academic Achievement


3rd Runner-Up Miss Photogenic


3rd Runner-Up Most Promising Model

NAM Nationals Day 5

Day 5:

The day started at 8:00 am for the preliminary Formal Wear competition, which is pretty ironic - evening gowns in the morning. I scored very high in this competition as well. Check out the video on my YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/NAMMissNY09#p/a/u/0/2hnmgVPNZSQ

The day continued with the Interview competition shortly after Formal Wear. My interview went pretty well. Some questions that I was asked were:

1. Who's your favorite Disney princess and why?

• I said, "My favorite Disney princess is Belle because she is a strong, independent woman who didn't need a man to rescue her. In fact, she rescued the man. She was also an avid reader which I, being a future English teacher, believe is an important activity for children to participate in."

2. What kind of praise do you like to get?

• I said, "The kind of praise that I like to get isn't for myself directly. I run my own volunteer organization called Preserve America which is based on my belief that volunteering is one of our nation's core values that must be preserved for the future. Through Preserve America, I am constantly running different volunteer projects from raising money for cancer, collecting toys for children in the hospital, or holding events to help support our troops. When I receive praise for the things I do through Preserve America, I know that all of the time I dedicate to my projects is making a difference."

3. What book has had the biggest impact on your life?

• I said, "The book that has made the biggest impact on my life is 'The Traveler's Gift' by Andy Andrews. It's about a man - a husband and father - who is going through a rough time in his life and he is in a car accident that leaves him in a coma. While he is unconscious he meets several prominent figures in history who teach him a life lesson, like Abraham Lincoln right before he is about to give the Gettysburg Address and Anne Frank while she is hiding from the Nazi's. It's an incredibly motivating book that I received as a gift when I graduated from high school and since I have read it, I have given it to so many people as a gift and I am always recommending it to people."

One of our MANY rehearsals (I'm the one in the front in curlers.)

After interviews we had more hours of rehearsals and concluded the night with the Red Carpet Awards. At the Red Carpet Awards, the winners and runners up of all the optional contests were announced. I took away quite a few trophies myself! I was 3rd Runner-Up for Miss Photogenic, 3rd Runner-Up for Most Promising Model, 1st Runner-Up in Academic Achievement, and 1st Runner-Up for Miss Top Model!

NAM National Pageant Day 4

Day 4:




Let the competition begin!



My day started off with the optional Casual Wear Modeling competition. I wore an "Unwinding at the Ski Lodge" themed outfit consisting of black leggings, a black long sleeved shirt, a white vest, white furry boots, and a white furry hat. I didn't make the top five, but I did do really well. I was 3rd Runner-Up in the Most Promising Model competition which was scored by combining my Casual Wear Modeling competition score with my Photogenic competition score (I was 3rd Runner-Up for Miss Photogenic!). Check out my 30 seconds on stage on my YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/NAMMissNY09#p/a/u/1/OL9ymue2m4Q



The day continued with hours of rehearsals all leading up to the first preliminary competition for the National American Miss title - Personal Introduction. Instead of telling you about it, I'll let you experience it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/NAMMissNY09#p/a/u/0/k5ytjEjn16g

I ended up scoring the highest out of any contestant in this preliminary competition :)





(Sorry the video quality isn't so great, they're videos of a video, but it's better than nothing)

NAM National Pageant Day 3

Day 3:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hollywood Tour!

Mom & Dad's clothes mysteriously got delivered in the middle of the night - thankfully! So the day was off to a great start, but that ended quickly. We we're supposed to go on a tour with the pageant contestants but there was an itty bitty time mix up and we missed the bus. But, we weren't the only ones, my sister queen Kelly (Miss New York Teen) and her family missed it also. So one of the pageant directors arranged for us to go on a private tour with another tour company.

We started off in Hollywood where we got to visit Grauman's Chinese Theater where all of the stars have their handprints. Here I am with the fabulous Marilyn Monroe's handprints, footprints, and autograph alonside her "Gentleman Prefer Blonde's" co-tar Jane Russell's:

We then visited the Kodak Theater where the Academy Awards are held. All of these tourists came up to me for autographs and to take pictures with me - it was pretty cool, I felt like a real celebrity. We then visited Marilyn Monroe's star which is located in front of a McDonald's (which, in my opinion, should really be a Victoria's Secret) before heading back to the bus for our next location.

Next, we headed for..."Rodeo Drive, baby" (to quote "Pretty Woman"), but first we did a tour of the celebrity houses in Beverly Hills. We saw the house "The Godfather" was filmed in, one of Lucille Ball's houses, the house Marilyn Monroe died in, the house the Osbourne's lived in when the filmed their TV show, the house Michael Jackson died in, and many other famous homes in the area. Upon our arrival at Rodeo Drive, the first thing I had to do was go to the hotel where they filmed "Pretty Woman". It looks nothing like it did in the film, but it was still pretty cool being there. I even have proof:
Here I am in the hotel's lobby

And here I am by the plaque with the hotel's name...

Since it was Thanksgiving all of the shops were closed but a tour of Rodeo wouldn't be complete without stopping by Tiffany's...We then headed over to Universal Studio's where we spent some time at the City Walk before heading back to our hotel for a special event...a raffle drawing for a 2010 Mustang Convertible! While I didn't win, one of my state sister queen's did! Here we are:

Yes, she's 7 and she won the car. But how adorable is she?!?!

After the drawing, we concluded our day with the very fancy and upscale black and white themed Thanksgiving Banquet. Here I am with Ashley, one of my NY sister queens:

After today, all of the fun and games are over and it's time for competition!

NAM National Pageant Day 2

Day 2: Disneyland

During our day at Disney, we're treated like royalty - Disney Princess Royalty. They shut down Sleeping Beauty's Castle for us to take a big group picture in front of. The true power of your title hits you when little girls around the park are more excited to see you than Cinderella and they want your autograph in those special Disney autograph books.

We spent the day going on rides and enjoying the sunshine. Here is a picture of some of the miss girls in front of the castle making funny faces:

NAM National Pageant Day 1

I am so sorry for the delay in updating, things have just been rather hectic lately. Over Thanksgiving, I flew to the other side of the country to compete in the National American Miss Pageant which was held in Anaheim, CA for a week. I proudly represented my state and left with quite a few honors and an entire suitcase of trophies.

Day 1:

I had an interesting start to my day. At 7:00 am the fire alarm went off in my hotel (figures the one day I actually could sleep in a little bit!) As it turns out, the sprinkler was set off in the room right across the hall from me. Thankfully, there was no fire but there was a whole ton of nasty stagnant pipe water pouring into the room. Unfortunately, it was my sister queen's room - Miss NY Jr. Teen. My father and I ran in and tried to salvage as much of her stuff from getting ruined. We got out the important things and then turned our attention to chocking the valve to stop the water. We tried everything in the kitchen, but nothing worked. About ten minutes later, the hotel maintenance guy arrived with the shut off valves which he conveniently dropped on the table then ran out of the room. I gave them to my father and he was able to shut off the sprinkler. We were both soaking wet and covered in debris that had collected in the water while it sat in those pipes for god knows how long. When I left the room the water had run across the hall and was flowing into our room. I told my mom to grab the towels, sheets, anything to absorb the water (this ended up including the very expensive and comfy mattress pads). To make things worse, my parents shipped all of their clothes before we left so that we could carry my stuff on the plane and the box was conveniently lost by UPS so when we ran into the room with the spinkler, my dad had on the only clothes he had and had to go down to the lobby and do laundry in his pajamas. Long story short, we ended up having to switch rooms and I ended up getting to registration a little late. I had orientation and got to meet all of my sister queens from the other states. Then competitions started up right away.

I competeted in the optional Spokesmodel competition where I gave a speech about how pressured women feel to look perfect all of the time which has resulted in unnecessary, expensive and painful plastic surgery. I offered a solution that involves confidence building. I didn't place in the top 5 for this competition but I did really well and I got a very high score.

I also had the Top Model Competition which was a photo shoot that took all of 5 minutes. I did really well and was 1st Runner-Up in this competition! Here are just two samples from the shoot:

The night concluded with a 70s Disco Themed Party. Here's a shot of me with my NY sister queens:

National Pageant!!!

Check out my Youtube channel for all of my update videos at the National Pageant!!!
http://www.youtube.com/NAMMissNY09

It's going really well and I'm having a great time!

Wish me luck!

<3 Kayla

Help Brighten the Holidays for our Troops Overseas with Holiday Cards from Home!

A Fun Community Service Event for the Whole Family!

Come by the Alert Annex Firehouse at 140 Steamboat Road in Great Neck on
Sunday, November 22nd between 11 am & 3 pm to make Holiday cards for our Troops and remind them that we are thinking of them this holiday season!

Not feeling creative? We have pre-made cards too so all you have to do is fill them out!

If you can’t stay for the event, you may also drop off cards that you have already made.

Examples of Children's Letters to our Troops (unedited)

“Dear Soldier, Thank you so much for fighting for our freedom. My family appreciations you so much! I think you're so brave!…I hope you will be able to come home soon! Just to let you know winter is coming and trust me it’s going to be cold! Here’s a poem for you! Soldier/Soldier, so brave you are! Fighting for our freedom what a soldier you are! Soldier soldier my name is Kristin What is yours? I know soldier. I hope you know you’re not forgotten here!” Love ya, Kristin

"Dear Soldier, Hi my name is Tamisha and I am nine years old...What is your name? I live in Colorado, where do you live? I know you guys are in Iraq. I am woundering, what it is like over there and what do you eat. What family do you have? I wanted to tell you thanks for being brave and for going all the way to Iraq...I am woundering what are you going to do when you get back home?" Sincerely, Tamisha

"Dear Soldier, My name is Julia I have brown hair and brown eyes. I ware glasses and I have good friends. I live in Colorado, where do you live? I have a brother and a mom. Do you have family? I have 3 pets. Two cats and 1 frog. Do you have pets?...Thank you for being brave and fighting for freedom. A new movie is coming out called the Incredibles. I have seen it and it is really cool. Maybe you can see it when you come home. I hope you have a great holiday." Sincerely, Julia P.S. Please write back.

"Dear Soldier, What are you doing, in the military. I know what you are doing you are fighting for us. What do you eat over there? I eat a lot of stuff like hamburgers. I know you do not eat that. My name is Marco. What is your name? How do you take a shower? How is the weather, cold or hot? Our weather is cool. What do you live in a house. I think you live in a tent. What do you do at your work? Are you on a ship or fly planes off or do you fight for us...I am 9 years old. How old are you?...Do you have friends? I have, one named Titus, the other one is name Ryan and the other one is called Zach. They are my friends. In my free time I play with my firends. What do you do on your free time? Do you get to play with your friends? I am smart, are you smart? I have to practice my homework every day. Do you have to practice to get ready to fight the bad people. Thank you for fighting for us. I hope you write back to me." Sincerely, Marco

"Dear Soldiers, I am writing to you to say hello and happy holidays. My name is Javon. I am 9 years and three quarters. In Dec. 16 I will be 10. I have a twin brother and we share our birthday. I am 10 min. older than him...I think for my birthday I will have a lasor tag party. I wonder how you celabrate holidays in the desert of Iraq. Students at my school think of soldiers often. My teacher talks about soldiers, the whole school does. I always here about soldiers on the news. I know how busy you are fighting. Where are you in Iraq? Do you ever get a break from doing your duties?I hope you get to be with your family for the holidays. If you don't I hope you at least get to talk to them. I hope you can go back to your home soon. Maybe when your in Iraq you can learn to speak their language." Happy holidays and be safe from Javon

"Dear Soldiers, Hi my name is Najah, I am 10 years old. I love writing so much, and reading...Do you like being a soldier? Is it scary being out there? You're brave so I am trying to be brave just like you and I want to be just like you when I grow up. I hope you are doing well, and thank you for fighting for freedom. P.S. write back please" Sincerely, Najah

"Dear Friend, I know how it feels to not see your family because, my cousin is in the war too. My name is Alexis, I live in Colorado...I would like to now your name and if you like basketball. I play basketball all the time. I would also like to tell you I like that people that fight for our country or who stand up for our rights. Do you know what is going on back here? P.S. I hope you can write back. My favorite color is blue." Sincerely Alexis

If you would like to read more of these, go to: http://www.heartsacrossthemiles.org/children.html

Help send me to Nationals!

Dear Potential Sponsor,

It was definitely one of the best days of my life on May 14th when I was announced as Miss New York 2009! Representing my state as a positive role model has been a lifelong dream of mine. My first appearance as Miss New York? I got to ride in a brand new Mustang convertible in Great Neck's Memorial Day Parade. It was an incredible experience riding down the main street and watching all of the children get excited to see me. I remember hearing one boy say, "Look Mom it's a princess!" and I certainly felt like a princess that day! Everyone was taking my picture and kids were coming up to hug me afterwards. That is when I realized how powerful this title can be. I have been blessed with this incredible opportunity to motivate and inspire people to follow their dreams.

During the interview portion of the state pageant, I was asked what I would do with the title if I won. I had two answers to this. The first was to inspire people and encourage them to follow their dreams, because if you work hard enough and keep your eye on the goal – anything is possible. The second was to further my mission of motivating people to do volunteer work and community service. Volunteering has always been a passion of mine. For the past four years, I have been a volunteer firefighter in the Great Neck Alert Fire Department and I was a junior firefighter for five years before that. The work that I am most proud of is my own volunteer organization, Preserve America, which I founded back in 2007. I started Preserve America based on my belief that volunteering is one of America’s core values that we must preserve for the future. I organize numerous community service projects year round all with the same goal – promoting volunteer work. In the two years since I’ve started Preserve America, I have held care-package collections for our troops, annual toy drives for LIJ Schneider’s Childrens' Hospital, fundraising for America’s VetDogs, I raised over $1,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I am currently organizing a project to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If it weren’t for the voluntary service of America’s founding fathers, we wouldn’t have celebrated our 233rd birthday this past Independence Day. If brave American’s didn’t volunteer for the military, who knows what a state of turmoil our nation would be in. If courageous firefighters didn’t volunteer to protect lives and property, the result would be disastrous. If doctors didn't volunteer their services in countries where medical care is a luxury, entire populations could be wiped out by disease. Volunteering is the backbone of our nation and it would be a tragedy if we were to let that dissipate. I am committed to using my title to promote volunteer work to the best of my ability. There are nearly 20,000,000 people living in New York – that’s a lot of potential volunteers!

I have been given the opportunity to now compete against the queens from other states in the national pageant for the title of National American Miss. This pageant will be held for a week over Thanksgiving in Anaheim, CA. I am so excited and feel incredibly grateful to now have the opportunity to compete for a chance to represent my beloved country and expand my mission from the 20 million New Yorkers to 3 billion Americans! In order for me to pursue my dream, I need $4,000 to send myself to the national pageant. I am looking for sponsors so that I can go to nationals and have the opportunity to inspire and motivate 3 billion Americans. Any amount that you could donate would be a huge help! As one of my official sponsors, your name or your business’ name will be listed in the program book which is a great opportunity for you to show people that you are kind enough to support Miss New York and my mission. For a business, this is a chance for you to advertise your services as well as to have Miss New York endorse your company. Your donation is tax-deductible for businesses as an advertising expense. I hope that I can count on you to help make my dream a reality.

Here’s how you can help:
Make a check out to National American Miss and give it to me in person or mail it to: Kayla Sulla
PO Box 234096
Great Neck, NY 11023

You can follow me during my year of reign by checking out my blog. I post updates on there all of the time so you can see what events I am doing as well as all of the other great things that I am accomplishing.
Check it out at: http://missnewyork2009.blogspot.com/

I hope that you will consider sponsoring me as I continue my mission to inspire and educate others. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to being able to call you an official sponsor!



Best Wishes,

Kayla Sulla
Miss New York 2009