About Kellan
Social Impact Initiative: Families Fostering Hope
Scholastic Ambition: Obtain an Undergraduate Degree at the University of South Carolina before attending Harvard Medical School
Career Ambition: Pediatric Oncology or Orthopedic Surgery
Fun Fact: After 13.5 years of being an only child, I became an older sister when we welcomed a 7-year old boy into our forever family.
Favorite Quote: "Though she be but little, she is fierce.” - Shakespeare
Awards/Honors: Miss South Carolina Teen 2019/2020, Student Council Vice President, SC State DECA Winner, National Honor Society, Miss SC Teen Quality of Life Scholarship Recipient 2018, Miss SC Teen Academic Award 2018, Top 2% of Class
Contact: Kellan4Kids@yahoo.com
Families fostering hope
Families Fostering Hope seeks to raise awareness for the need for safe, loving foster homes, while providing for some of the basic needs of foster children. Kellan’s Kloset was created to provide clothing, books, blankets, and other needed items to children in the foster care system. Boys and girls may shop for the items they need, at no charge, giving them choices and a sense of empowerment. Kellan also partners with many organizations, including Families of Hope Ministries and the South Carolina Heart Gallery. Thus far, Kellan has donated over 40,000 items to 12 states, Haiti, and Honduras.
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#KellansKloset
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Families of Hope Ministries is the fostering/adoption ministry of Lexington Baptist Church. Their resource center is available to help foster and newly adoptive families in the Midlands area of South Carolina. They have new and gently used clothes and baby gear available for ages birth through teen! They are open Mondays from 5-6, Thursdays from 1-2, and Saturday 9:30-10:30 at which times they can also accept donations.
The Heart Gallery is a traveling photographic and audio exhibit created to find forever families for children in foster care. The Heart Gallery of America is a collaborative project of over 80 Heart Galleries across the United States designed to increase the number of adoptive families for children needing homes in our community.
Now, in its sixteenth year, the Heart Gallery model is being replicated in many communities across the country, including South Carolina. Although many of the children were removed from abusive and neglectful situations, they still have hope. They love to laugh, to learn, and to be with their friends. Most of all, they dream of finding a forever family to be their own. Photographers across the United States donate their services to create compelling portraits that capture the spirit and personality of each child. Display of the photographs online and in public venues raises awareness of the need for foster care and adoption. It also helps connect interested families and waiting children.
Established in 2005, the South Carolina Heart Gallery is a collaborative program administered and supported by the Children’s Foster Care Review Board, Office of the Governor and the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
Want to help Kellan Best serve her community?
Be a Miracle Maker!
One of the exciting opportunities the Miss America's Outstanding Teen program offers is the chance to raise funds for local children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The money Kellan raises will help save children’s lives and a portion will also go to support the MAOTeen Scholarship Fund. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals makes sure that donated funds stay local which means that your donation helps kids and families right here in our community at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, SC.
Kellan invites you to join her in touching the lives of sick and injured children today. You can also see the impact of your donation by clicking here to view some of the incredible miracle stories from kids CMNH has helped. These are just a few stories out of millions of kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals each year.