Miss Gurnee reaches out to help community

GURNEE – Mohandas Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” That is exactly what 19-year-old college student and Gurnee resident Bella Jansen is doing.

Jansen was crowned Miss Gurnee 2021 in July at the Gurnee Community Pageant. Her platform as Miss Gurnee is “Serving and Supporting Single Mothers” and her goal is to empower the lives of those women and make a positive impact on not only their lives, but the lives of their children.

Jansen has successfully planned and hosted special events to advocate for single mothers and their children and has brought awareness to the community of the importance of helping make their lives brighter.

In early December, Jansen created “Santas for Single Moms.” She reached out to Staben House in Waukegan and collected Christmas wish lists of the homeless single moms and their children who live there. In partnership with some other town queens, she was able to deliver many gifts to all the moms and their children.

“I am the one who received the best gift this Christmas, knowing that these single mom families could have a memorable Christmas together with the hope that the New Year would bring them even more joy and opportunities to get on their feet again,” she said. “Being able to associate some of their first names with the gifts that were distributed made it a much more personal and emotional level I wasn’t expecting.”

During the first two weeks of January, Jansen, along with her two sister queens, Jr. Miss Gurnee Brooke Herod and Little Miss Gurnee Anabelle Herod, held a communitywide diaper drive for the organization Keeping Families Covered. Jansen solicited and received donations of diapers and wipes from the Gurnee Target store. Gurnee Village Hall, along with the Gurnee Police Department, offered to be drop-off locations for the drive. The girls also had the support of local businesses as drop-off locations, including The Gurnee Starbucks west of the tollway, Honey Orthodontics and The Shipping Point.

Because of the outpouring of community involvement and support, the girls were able to provide 5,925 diapers, 495 pull-ups, 111 packages of diaper wipes and 20 cans of formula.

In February, Jansen hosted a “Baby Shower” inviting other town queens, past and present, to join in the making of no-sew receiving blankets and to donate new or gently used baby items. Once again, community members were supportive. St. Paul the Apostle Church in Gurnee allowed her to host the event in their space, and Gurnee’s Nothing Bundt Cakes donated bundtinis as desserts for her guests. She was able to collect numerous baby supplies, including car seats, pack-n-plays, saucers, diaper bags and plenty of baby clothes ranging in sizes birth to 2 years old. All items have been donated to Aid for Women of Northern Lake County, which is located in Gurnee.

Jansen and her sister queens will continue to work closely with Gurnee Mayor Tom Hood, the village of Gurnee and the Gurnee Park District as they finish their year of serving the community. The 2022 Gurnee Community Pageant will be July 16, when three new queens will be crowned.