Just under three months into her reign as Miss Watauga Valley, Peyton Kirby Wilson has been working hard to promote her platform of community service, and she is leading by example.
“I have partnered with an organization called ‘Serving With Style,’ which is on its way to becoming a non-profit, and I’m also in the process of forming my own non-profit,” Wilson said.
One of the things Wilson enjoys about working with Serving With Style is it gives her opportunities to become more involved in the local community and to serve others. Joining Wilson in the program are residents from across the region, including several other title-holders.
“It is kind of a mix of people, but primarily it’s girls competing in different platforms,” Wilson said. “It’s a way for all of us to become involved.”
Recently Wilson and others with Serving With Style teamed up to prepare a meal for families staying at the local Ronald McDonald House while their children receive treatment at the Children’s Hospital.
“Different girls are in charge of different projects,” Wilson said. “Whitney Davis coordinated the Ronald McDonald House event because that is her platform.

“My platform is going to be community service and involvement, and that opens up so many opportunities for me.”
In addition to her work with Serving With Style, Wilson has also spent time since being crowned Miss Watauga Valley volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, helping to serve a Thanksgiving meal at Haven of Mercy shelter for the homeless, packing presents for the annual Santa Train run, volunteering at the Wellmont Night of Holiday Miracles for the Children’s Miracle Network, and volunteering at the Empty The Shelter event at the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter.

“Last year when I was a title-holder it was in Middle Tennessee and it was hard for me to get involved because I don’t live in Middle Tennessee,” Wilson said. “This is my own community. I can literally walk down the street to help out. It has been so much easier to help out here.”
Just before Christmas, Wilson announced through her Facebook page that she is coordinating a new project through Serving With Style to give back to her hometown community — helping to collect food items for Assistance and Resource Ministries (ARM).
“During this season of giving, almost 24 percent of people in Carter County live below the poverty level. One in eight people in our hometown go to bed hungry or food deprived each night,” Wilson said in her Facebook post. “That’s why I’ve chosen to kick off the New Year with a food drive supporting ARM, a local resource ministry. In partnership with Serving With Style I’ll be collecting canned goods over the next month.”
While she announced she would be collecting canned goods through the month of January, Wilson said the food drive is a project she hopes to keep going year-round in order to help ARM serve the community by meeting needs. Within just a week, Wilson had already collected over 100 cans of food.
“There is a huge amount of hunger in Carter County,” Wilson said, adding it is something that she and her mother, Chana Kirby, have talked about. “We thought it would be a good way to give back and help the community because we have been so blessed.”
Those wishing to donate to the food drive can contact either Peyton Wilson or her mother Chana Kirby through their Facebook pages, contact the Miss Watauga Valley Facebook page, or send Wilson an e-mail to wilsonpk1@etsu.edu.