GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ms. Wheelchair America 2024 will be crowned in Grand Rapids Saturday evening.
18 finalists from around the country came to West Michigan this week to compete for the title.
The Mary Free Bed Guild is hosting the competition for the second year in a row.
This event included remarks from a very significant person— Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein.
"You've been sent here for a reason. You've been sent here for a purpose. For if there is one thing that truly can save the world, if there is one thing that can truly bring us together, it is the women that are being honored here tonight. It is your message, it is your understanding, it is your appreciation of the world that can allow for us all to come together as one," Justice Bernstein said. "It's through your power, your influence and your ability that you can teach the most valuable lesson of all— the lesson that yes, some of us are mortal and yes, some of us are infirmed, but it's always those people whose spirits and souls know no bounds, whose spirits and souls have an incredible resilience and whose spirits and souls can do nothing less than pierce the heavens, break through the surly bonds of earth...do nothing less than touch the face of God."
At the end of the night, Ms. Wheelchair Maryland Chandra Smith was crowned Ms. Wheelchair America!
"Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve you all. I'm incredibly honored," Smith said. "I am truly speechless, but I'm truly inspired by the ladies who sit behind me. And, this crown represents the resilience, determination and the spirit of the ladies...and I share this crown with them."
