Miss America contestants will pursue ideas for social or public service causes based off of their own personal family tragedies.
Miss Wisconsin, Raeanna Johnson, is planning to start a program called "Tyler's Legacy: The Impact of Substance Abuse on The Family." Her idea for this public-service program was inspired by her teen brother, who committed suicide, reports The Associated Press.
Johnson's brother, Tyler, was addicted to methamphetamine, but her family was unaware of his drug addiction until after his toxicology report came back, reports AP.
Johnson isn't the only candidate using a family tragedy to inspire them in this section of the pageant, which will be discussed Sunday.
Amanda Sasek, representing Kansas, will pitch a public service idea to help families dealing with coping from losing loved ones from suicide. Sasek became anorexic after her father committed suicide when she was 17 years old reports AP.
Similarly, Miss Delaware Brittany Lewis is still awaiting an arrest in the case of her slain sister, AP reports. Lewis plans to pitch a pageant platform that would give domestic violence protection to those in abusive relationships, like her sister was in the years before her death.
