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Community Corner

Miss Culver City Teen USA Seeks Funds, Support

Alizabeth Blackburn is seeking to raise money so she can compete in a pageant.

It isn't easy being Miss Culver City Teen USA.

Alizabeth Blackburn entered Donald Trump's Miss California Teen USA contest and paid a deposit on the nearly $1,700 entry fee—which covers her hotel fee, hair and make-up at the event and food for the three-day pageant—hoping she could raise money to pay the balance. 

She anticipated getting a little help from Culver City, including her official introduction to the city—and last week introduced herself to the City Council and asked for its support in her bid for pageant glory.

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While she is officially Miss Culver City Teen USA, Culver City will not endorse her. 

Said Councilman Andrew Weissman in an interview with Patch, "that's not something the council is in the position to do."

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"Certainly we're not going to spend general funds to sponsor a pageant," he said. Weissman said he has no recollection of the city ever endorsing a pageant candidate.

To make up for the lack of pageant funds, the tenacious Mar Vista teen has gone door-to-door asking for donations, is holding a garage sale this weekend, and is working with local businesses to try to raise the money. Twenty percent of the funds raised will go to her pageant charity, Much Love Animal Rescue. The entry fee for the November pageant, however, goes to pay for her hotel in Palm Springs—where the pageant is being held this year—and transportation.

"It was very discouraging," said Blackburn of the city's response. She said that other pageant contestants cheerily talk about the support they're getting from their cities.

There's already a candidate for Miss Los Angeles—as Mar Vista is in Los Angeles—so Erik DeSando, who is a recruiter for Donald Trump, California Miss USA/Teen USA, gave her a list of other cities to pick from. Culver City was her No. 1. 

Although she is a bit apprehensive about the pageant, she feels that the experience will be a positive one. During non-pageant fundraising time, she is home schooled by the California Virtual Academy and is taking some courses for college credit while pursuing acting.

Blackburn has had television roles in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost and Found as well as a movie opportunity with Hannah Montana the Movie.

DeSando said Culver City's decision was "disappointing." He recruits girls from California, Arizona and Utah to be in the pageant. About  5,000 to 7,000 applications come from California girls each year, he said. When a girl is chosen to represent a particular city, the town will often give her a key to the city or help get her public recognition, he said.

According to DeSando, the girls are up against tough competition and are chosen for their "character first and their beauty last." A big component of their victory is also public service, he said.

In Culver City's case, DeSando believes that officials may have become nervous after a pageant scandal rocked Beverly Hills in February. Candidate Lauren Ashley called herself "Miss Beverly Hills" as a contestant for the Miss California USA pageant and then made national news when she denounced gay marriage, backing up her beliefs with a quote from the Bible.

Beverly Hills officials quickly disavowed her, pointing out that Ashley didn't live in Beverly Hills and the city doesn't endorse beauty contestants.

However, Weissman said that the Beverly Hills incident "wasn't a factor" in Culver City's decision.

Undeterred, Blackburn continues to traverse Culver City's streets in her search for funding and support. Along the way she wants to inspire other kids to volunteer, something that she loves to do in her spare time. 

Pageant or not, Blackburn hopes to eventually become a veterinarian or a zoologist, citing her love of animals as the reason why she chose Much Love Animal Rescue for her pageant charity.

But for now, Blackburn has her eyes on the pageant prize. "My biggest goal is to gain more confidence and learn a lot," she said. "When I first looked at being in pageants, I thought it was only about glamour. But then when I talked to the recruiter, I realized that it was about health, self-awareness, proper etiquette and representing my city."

Blackburn will be holding a garage sale to raise money for the pageant at 3728 South Barrington Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066 on Sunday starting at 8 a.m. 

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