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Miss America hopeful works with NFCA to champion celiac disease awareness.

February 18, 2009

Miss America hopeful works with NFCA to champion celiac disease awareness.

NFCA volunteer Rebecca Podio proves that celiac can’t stop you from achieving anything! This nineteen-year-old University of Wyoming student recently earned the title of Miss Newcastle Wyoming and is preparing to contend in the Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant in June 2009. The Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant is part of the Miss America Organization program and is the state’s qualifying contest for the Miss America Pageant. Rebecca has pledged to spread awareness of celiac disease as she embarks on this exciting journey!

NFCA volunteer Rebecca Podio proves that celiac can’t stop you from achieving anything! This nineteen-year-old University of Wyoming student recently earned the title of Miss Newcastle Wyoming and is preparing to contend in the Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant in June 2009. The Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant is part of the Miss America Organization program and is the state’s qualifying contest for the Miss America Pageant. Rebecca has pledged to spread awareness of celiac disease as she embarks on this exciting journey!

Miss Podio is an incredibly accomplished young woman. As a chemical engineering and business administration major at the University of Wyoming, she has won several scholarships and received multiple academic honors. Rebecca not only works as a volunteer with NFCA, but also donates her time to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wyoming, the Society of Women Engineers youth outreach program, and her Delta Delta Delta sorority’s philanthropic efforts on behalf of St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital for Children. She has many interests and hobbies including cooking, baking, riding horses, rodeo, scrapbooking and traveling.
Rebecca recently joined the NFCA as a volunteer after being diagnosed with celiac a little over two months ago! She currently assists with [email protected] email program responding to general questions and requests, as well as providing the proper resources and referrals to all of those who submit inquiries. Rebecca will expand her role within NFCA and manage NFCA’s gluten-free recipe blog, part of NFCA’s upcoming new website.
Rebecca is no stranger to the national pageant stage, having already won the Miss National Pre-Teen title in 2003. For the Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant, Rebecca has selected “Focused on the Future: Mathematics and Science Education” for her platform and plans to perform vocals for the talent portion of the competition. If selected as Miss Wyoming, Rebecca will have the opportunity to travel and speak statewide before participating in the Miss America Scholarship Pageant.
The Miss America program exists to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community. Part of The Miss America Organization, this program is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.
Rebecca has managed to become the accomplished young woman she is today in spite of living without a diagnosis and experiencing uncomfortable intestinal symptoms for over seven years. You can read Rebecca’s entire celiac story in NFCA’s personal stories section.
By sharing her personal experience, Rebecca wants to encourage others who suffer from similar symptoms to get tested for celiac disease “I now know that the symptoms I thought that everyone experienced and that I thought were just part of life, were not.” Since her diagnosis and adopting a gluten-free diet, Rebecca says she feels better than ever and is thrilled to be an active member of the celiac community.
We are so very proud of Rebecca and congratulate her on her Miss Newcastle Wyoming title. We hope you all will join us in rooting for her this June in the Miss Wyoming 2009 Scholarship Pageant!

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