Perrigin wins 2nd annual Miss Volunteer America

Hannah Perrigin has dealt with eating disorders and the disappointment of having not won state title crowns three previous years.

But all those obstacles are in the past now that Perrigin, who represented her home state as Miss Mississippi Volunteer, is now Miss Volunteer America.

She won the crown at the second annual pageant’s finals Saturday night.

“I was in shock for a few seconds right when it happened,” Perrigin told local media right after the pageant concluded and she won her latest crown.

Perrigin had won her group’s health and fitness competition the night before, so it was the second time in as many nights her name was called as a winner at the end of the night.

In the question portion of the competition, which is the last part with the five finalists before the winner is determined, Perrigin opened up about her eating disorders and how hard she had to fight to overcome them.

“I had to fight to figure out that my identity is not in how small I am,” Perrigin said. “It’s about being healthy and strong, and once I embraced that is when my entire outlook changed.”

The crowd of about 1,500 in the Carl Perkins Civic Center gave her a round of applause for her answer.

“The past three years flashed very quickly of my pageant journey and every no and not yet that God has told me has led me to this moment,” Perrigin said after the win. “Now I know the purpose for my life.”

She said her main goal for the coming year is to grow the Miss Volunteer organization as its second queen after Alexa Knutzen was the inaugural winner in 2022.

“She told us that God will either bless you with it or save you from it,” Perrigin said about advice Knutzen gave the competitors this week during the competition. “And that really kept me grounded through competition because I knew the winner was predetermined [through God].

“Alexa has been incredible and I have huge shoes to fill.”

Perrigin said she’d become OK with the notion that her plan in life was to be a person who encouraged healthy living, which is something she could do with or without a national crown.

“I can take space in society and not shrink back from it,” Perrigin said. “And this win is just a cherry on top.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news