Tiffany Hendrickson, a Fresno State agricultural education and communications major from Los Banos, has been crowned Ms. Wheelchair California 2014.
Hendrickson will now compete for Ms. Wheelchair USA July 15 in Houston. Hendrickson’s pageant platform is to make the agriculture industry and opportunities within it more accessible for people with disabilities.
“Just because something isn’t easy doesn’t make it impossible,” said Hendrickson, who has cerebral palsy.
She is pursuing a single-subject teaching credential in agriculture and aspires to be an agriculture education teacher. She said she hopes her accomplishments will motivate her future students.
Founded in 1976 and based in Oxnard, the Ms. Wheelchair California Pageant is a nonprofit organization that strives to provide a powerful voice for women with disabilities on the issues affecting the community.
The pageant’s goal is to recognize the brightest women with disabilities. As Ms. Wheelchair California, Hendrickson will be a liaison between the disabled community and local, state and national governments.
She will serve as a voice and face for the disabled community, shedding light on issues while advocating for disability rights.
Hendrickson has been active with 4-H and Future Farmers of America showing livestock at county fairs and competing at public speaking events. By the time she completed her stint in the FFA in 2009, Hendrickson had become one of the members with a disability to earn an American FFA degree.
For more information about the Ms. Wheelchair California Pageant, contact Cynthia DeJesus at 805.206.6400 or MWCC2013@aol.com.
(University Communications news assistant Jodi Raley contributed to this report.)
