Way Out Kids partnered with the City of Tacoma/Tacoma Creates, Metro Parks, Tacoma Urban League and other community organizations to host this wonderful Juneteenth festival featuring over fifty vendors from trade associations, local businesses, nonprofits, and finance. The goal of the Juneteenth festival is to create an opportunity for economic growth and set a path for financial stability within the Black community and of course celebrate. 

During the planning of the Juneteenth festival, Community Aunties was approached to partner and serve as lead to create and facilitate a Miss Juneteenth program. From the outset, Community Aunties vision was for Miss Juneteenth to be a celebration of Black girls, our sisterhood, scholarship, community, and history! This pageant was designed to celebrate young women unapologetically. Miss Juneteenth is more than a beauty pageant, it is a scholarship program and a "pageant with a purpose" providing youth with an opportunity to learn Black History, gain new skills, make new sister-friends, earn scholarship money and represent their community and unique, Black brilliance.
 

Pierce County’s Miss Juneteenth Pageant & Scholarship program was a success and well-received by the community. Ahndrea L. Blue, Executive Director, of Making A Difference Foundation read an article about the upcoming pageant in the News Tribune and sponsored each of the participants with a $1000 scholarship! With the money raised through event magazine (link to magazine below) ad sales and donations, each participant earned at least $1,250 in scholarship money and our newly crowned Miss Juneteenth receiving over $2,000 in scholarship funds.

Plans are already underway for Miss Juneteenth 2024! Stay tuned.