Miss Augusta 2024, Elleana Garcia, was raised in the CSRA and graduated from Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School. She is currently a freshman at Kennesaw State University and pursuing a degree in Hospitality Management. “During high school, I was really involved in the Augusta community. I completed the Students2Work program through the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, and in my senior year, I was chosen out of 5,000 applicants across the country to be one of the 300 student leaders for Bank of America. I got to intern with the Golden Harvest Food Bank and go to Washington, DC to represent Augusta. I then went to a leadership conference with all of the other students. We spent that day on Capitol Hill and that experience really pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped prepare me to be Miss Augusta,” she shares.
Elleana’s platform as Miss Augusta is Alcohol Awareness - Prevail, Prevent, and Protect. “I view my platform as an umbrella for the many different ways that alcohol addiction can affect people’s lives. I want to have a broad spectrum of people who I can help the most and my plan is to spread my platform to all age levels. I’m currently working on getting into schools and having age appropriate discussions with the students.”
Elleana’s passion for bringing awareness to alcohol addiction is inspired by her mother, who is now two years sober. “Addiction is becoming less of a taboo to talk about. It’s the perfect platform for me and I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Mark your calendars for May 9th, as Elleana invites you to Tea with Intention, a fundraising luncheon benefiting the National Association for Children of Addiction. This event will be at Sugar Magnolias and to RSVP, email Elleana at elleana.k.garcia@gmail.com. To stay up to date on what Elleana is doing in the community, follow her on Facebook at Miss Augusta and Instagram at @MissAugustaGeorgia and @Elleana.Garcia.
