Miss America's Crowning Achievement: Giving Back

It's a pretty common theme in life: Until you've actually experienced something first hand, there's no way to fully grasp what it means. Whether it's having kids or traveling to the Grand Canyon, no amount of talk or planning can fully prepare you for it.

And despite all the primping and preparations in the world, Katie Stam admits she didn't fully understand what it meant to be Miss America until a couple of weeks after she took the crown at last year's pageant.

"The first time that I spoke in a school as Miss America, I spoke to a group of kindergartners and first graders," Stam tells Tonic. "Looking at them, watching them as I was talking about getting a good education, and getting involved with their communities — just to see how enthralled they were at such a young age. I opened up the floor to questions, and to see kindergartners and first graders asking me about the organizations I'm involved with was incredible. In that moment I realized how very special this whole experience is — to a different degree than I had thought before. Until you interact with children and realize the impact you're having on young lives, you just don't get it. It's something very, very special."

In the realm of Miss Americas, Katie Stam is something pretty special, too — because even before that crown was placed on her head last January, Stam stood on a platform that placed her head-and-shoulders above the crowd: A passion for promoting community service and involvement.

Stam will end her Miss America 2009 reign this Saturday night, as she passes the crown to another young beauty on stage at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The moment will be broadcast live for all the world to see on cable network TLC. But what Stam hopes viewers take time to notice is that Miss America is much more than a beauty pageant. It's a powerful organization that inspires thousands of young women to improve their education and get involved with community service each and every year.

In addition to being the largest provider of scholarship assistance to young women in the world — Miss America doles out a whopping $45-million each year — "Each of the 12,000 to 14,000 girls who compete for the title [starting with local competitions] raises money for the Children's Miracle Network," Stam points out. "And then, each of the 12,000 to 14,000 contestants are also asked to choose a personal platform. Whatever you choose to champion during your year:  a cause, an issue, an organization. Every single contestant."

That means thousands of young women step up each year to promote eating disorder awareness, Mother's Against Drunk Driving, Alzheimer's awareness, education, arts, veterans issues: "The list goes on and on," Stam says. "It's just magnificent how many things the young women come up with. And these girls are doing phenomenal work — getting into schools, fundraising, organizing events. Really, the basis of our entire organization is service in general. That's what we're all about."

Stam herself, at the age of 22, attached herself to a platform that supports all of those platforms combined: "Passion for Service: Promoting Community Service and Involvement."

Wearing the crown allowed her to stand on that platform and live out her dream to inspire others to the fullest. "I can't even begin to give you a list of all the service events I've been a part of," she says. "Working with the USO, going overseas to visit our troops — the list is so astronomically huge I can't even begin to describe!"

In fact, right through this weekend the Indiana native continued to log an average of 20,000 miles a month, traveling from state fair to children's hospital to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to U.S. military bases in Germany — all in the name of community service.

"Not many people get to do that in a lifetime," says Stam. "I have made some tremendous friends within these different organizations. I've already promised the USO that I'll continue my volunteering with them [after giving up the crown], going to Walter Reed, doing whatever I can. I've already had 60-plus invites from different organizations, from the Dairy Council to women's groups, just for the one year ahead!"

Even though she has no obligation to fulfill those invites, even though she could go home, kick back, and relax knowing that she has $50,000 in scholarship money waiting to put into whatever kind of education she wants to get, Stam is vowing to follow through on every invitation she can. "I truly feel like God has placed this in front of me to say, 'I would really like to see you continue this. You can make a difference.'"

"I want to stay involved as much as I can," she adds. And she hopes her work is inspiring others to do the same. "Community service is so easy, because there are so many organizations out there that have opportunities for you to get involved and give back in different ways."

Though Stam only recently celebrated her 23rd birthday, her whirlwind year as Miss America 2009 has given her a breadth of experience greater than that of some women twice her age. "Somedays I feel like I'm 35!" she says with a laugh. "I just feel tremendously blessed to have done all of this, having not even really started my independent life. I was a college student before this, and then spent a year at this. I'll have had opportunities people only dream about. I can't believe that I was blessed enough to have that."

When it comes to giving up the crown Saturday night, "It'll be bittersweet," she admits. "It hasn't hit me just yet. I'm ready to go back home and be with family and have a home life again. But up until this point, this has been my whole life for a year. It will be difficult."

If traveling the country, and the world, have taught her anything, it's this: "I have to learn to dream bigger and figure out what else I need to put all my effort towards," she says. "This chapter is closing, but I'm so thankful that I had this chapter."

Knowing she has plenty more to do when it comes to promoting community service, she says, giving up the crown won't be so bad. In fact, she adds, "Maybe more sweet than bitter."

Photos courtesy Miss America Organization