Copperas Cove kindergartner reigns with royal acts of kindness
By Tonya Warren | Photos courtesy of Copperas Cove Five Hills Scholarship Pageant
Favorite stuffed animal? Check. Coloring book and crayons? Check. Tiara? Huh? Except for the tiara, these items are usually front and center in a typical kindergartner’s bedroom, but then this 5-year-old is no typical kindergartner. Meet Braelyn Liles, a spunky and selfless little girl who recently completed her reign in the Copperas Cove Five Hills Scholarship Pageant.
The pageant serves the community through a wide range of service projects. Each participant selects one platform they will promote and support during their one-year reign. Although dormant for 18 years, the pageant was resurrected in 2014, and since then, scholarship program director Wendy Sledd says participants have offered over 50,000 hours of community service to Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties.
Blessed to have been born into a family with a giving spirit, Braelyn, with the help of her mom Christy Liles, placed money collection jars around the community for Hope Pregnancy Center after being crowned 2017 Baby Miss Five Hills. Braelyn collected over $1,000 for the center.
Christy described Braelyn as “an incredible child and mature far beyond her years.” Also, old-fashioned older sibling adoration never hurt anything as Braelyn can attest. “I wanted to be like my older sister Briana,” she said. “I wanted to participate in all the volunteer events.”
Briana held titles of Preteen Miss Five Hills and Copperas Cove Five Hills Ambassador, raising more than $8,000 for the Children’s Alopecia Project. Alopecia is a health condition characterized by hair loss, which Briana suffers from.
While waiting to become a foster family, the Liles learned that many children removed from their homes have nothing but the clothes on their back. Sometimes a child might have a few meager possessions that are tossed in a trash bag as they leave a home marked by abuse or neglect.
Working with Foster Love Bell County, Braelyn set out to change that scenario. She collected suitcases for younger children that she filled with donations of socks, underwear, shampoo and other needed items. “I wanted the kids to know someone cares about them,” she said.
Braelyn also included something near and dear to her heart: coloring books and crayons. “I love to color because it makes me happy.” She also collected duffel bags for older kids filled with their own needed goodies.
Project Pajama was another cause near and dear to Braelyn’s heart.
“I always get new pajamas from my mom and dad at Christmas,” she said. “But not all kids have a mom and dad, which means they don’t have pajamas.”
Braelyn wanted them to have a gift of pajamas to open on Christmas Day, and thanks to generous donors, she collected over 160 pairs of pajamas. Although foster children need all sizes of pajamas, Foster Love especially needs sizes infant-3 years and adult sizes for teens.
Braelyn was able to collect several in these sizes and dozens upon dozens more.
To learn more about Project Pajama, email fivehillspageant@gmail.com or contact the Copperas Cove Five Hills Scholarship Pageant through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
