Miss Maryland USA 2010 Simone Feldman attended the Best Buddies meeting April 13 as part of her community outreach effort. Feldman talked and took pictures with the buddies while the club members celebrated one of the buddy’s birthdays.

Feldman originally got involved with Best Buddies when she was a student at Wootton. Since then she has continued to help the community, but when she won Miss Maryland, she specifically wanted to raise awareness about Best Buddies.

“Best Buddies has always been very close and dear to me,” she said. “I love them. One of the main organizations that the Miss USA organization works with is Best Buddies. I try to be as active as I can in my community.”

Feldman will continue to visit Best Buddies chapters around the state and will attend the Best Buddies gala at Quince Orchard this Friday. In addition to working with the students, Feldman works with Best Buddies Maryland chapter president Vince Fiduccia.

Next month, Feldman will compete in the Miss USA competition at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. While this will only be her third pageant, she hopes to win it.

“There are 51 girls from all over the country, including one from Washington D.C.,” Feldman said. “We’re all in equal competition; I’m excited. My plan is to win. Maryland hasn’t won since 1957, so I’m looking for all of the support.”

In high school Feldman said that she was date-less and not very popular. She never considered participating in pageants until she got to college, where she met a former Miss Maryland, who is also involved with Best Buddies.

“It’s a really good way to look at your life and see where the blanks are,” she said. “There aren’t cookie cutters that anyone tries to fit you into. They really want to make sure that your personality comes through, so I just try to be me and let myself grow in that position.”

After the pageants are over, Feldman hopes to attend law school.