ARKANSAS, USA — The 2023 Miss Arkansas was crowned just three days ago and the new titleholder, Cori Keller has already been hard at work.
Keller spent the last 16 years in the Miss Arkansas Organization with hopes of turning her dreams into reality— and on Saturday, she did just that.
The 25-year-old from Stuttgart expressed that she's very eager to represent the Natural State.
"I feel like I'm playing dress up like this is not my reality. This is not my life. But it's not a dream. Nobody needs to pinch me, it is reality. And I'm just so overwhelmed with gratitude, and just so thankful for this opportunity and this honor," Keller described.
Between preparing for Miss America, traveling the state, and serving local communities, she has a busy year ahead of her.
"My community service initiative is feeding the future collaborative solutions to hunger. It started from growing up in Stuttgart in a rural agriculture-based community I was really surprised to find out that food insecurity sat next to me every single day in class," she explained.
Keller also explained that more than 75 percent of the students in her school district were on free or reduced-price school meals.
"That inspired me to not only feed the next generation of Arkansas, so they can have an equal chance at being successful but to help my classmates help my friends and the people I was around every single day," she added.
She also said she plans to continue what she's been doing— volunteering at food banks, passing out meals, and fundraising. All while also advocating on the state and federal levels to increase SNAP incentives.
"We actually just passed a bill here in Arkansas during the last legislative session that any child who is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals will now get free school meals," she said.
While she tackles these issues head-on, she said her family's support is what has kept her going. On the final night of competition, she had one of her biggest fans missing from the audience— her dad.
"He is currently in ICU at Baptist Health here in Little Rock and from complications from triple bypass surgery. He's been there over two weeks now," she explained.
Though she still made sure to pay him a visit after getting crowned.
"It's so special and something I'm gonna cherish forever," Keller said.
He's still in the hospital, but she hopes he gets released soon.
She explained that she's also an advocate for the American Heart Association because of her passion for fighting heart disease in addition to fighting food insecurity.
The Miss America competition is set to happen in January and she will start preparing for that next week.
