JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Miss Mississippi delegates have been in Vicksburg since Sunday.

Monday night, all 39 rolled through downtown Vicksburg along with Miss Mississippi Vivian O’Neal for the annual parade. Beginning Wednesday night they will take the stage for the first night of preliminary competition.

We talked with three more delegates about Service Initiatives and why they participate in Miss Mississippi.

This is the sixth year Miss Hattiesburg, Katelyn Perry, will compete at Miss Mississippi. Perry says she has grown personally, and each year, she comes back to give it another try.

“I have a very successful 501c3 that I wouldn’t have started if it wasn’t for the confidence that I gained through this organization,” Perry said. “I am getting a Masters’s Degree right now, completely debt-free. I started accumulating scholarship dollars when I was just 12 years old because of this organization.”

Perry has formed a non-profit, Crowns for a Cause, to help raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals her Service Initiative.

“We have 150 ambassadors from more than 20 states, and I’m able to teach them about why service is so important, and while we do that we advocate for CMN hospitals”, Perry said.

Miss Key to the South Karsyn Ulmer was a semi-finalist in 2023. This is her third year at Miss Mississippi.

Ulmer said, “I almost didn’t come back. I actually waited and competed in the very last prelim.”

Her Service Initiative is Joyce’s Journey named in honor of her aunt.

“My Aunt Joyce, she had Cerebral Palsy, among other disabilities, and I remember being a young girl and going into places with her in public and just seeing people kind of look at her differently, and I hated it because at the end of the day, she was my best friend,” said Ulmer.

Miss Mississippi State University Morgan Nelson is back for a second time. She was also a semi-finalist in 2023.

Nelson said, “It’s truly an opportunity that I want to promote to all girls, young women who look like me and who don’t look like me to be a representative of the state.”

Miss MSU says she wants to help eliminate health disparities and chronic conditions through her Service Initiative.

“Don’t Sugarcoat It encourages Mississippians to just try to eat healthy just for a day,” Nelson said.

Miss Hattiesburg and Miss Key to the South compete in Talent Thursday night. They will be singing. Miss Mississippi State competes in Talent Friday night. She will be dancing.

Each of the six semi-finalists from 2023 received $2,000 scholarships from the Miss Mississippi Corporation. That includes four of the delegates who are back this year, Miss Hattiesburg Katelyn Perry, Miss USM Kat Adcox, Miss Key to the South Karsyn Ulmer, and Miss MSU Morgan Nelson.

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