Mrs California honored as military installation winner in Military Spouse of the Year contest

Jan. 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Mrs. California International 2013, Shana Smith, is the California Army installation winner for the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year.  In the online election held Tuesday, Shana Smith captured the California vote.  As one of the 154 base-level winners, Smith now is eligible to be nominated for Army “spouse of the year.”

As a very proud mother of an 8 year old and wife of Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Grant Smith she has been passionately volunteering for organizations that support families of our fallen heroes.  She enjoys planning events each year with the Got Your Back Network honoring spouses and children who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, running for the TAPS Run to Remember team and putting he heart into to any organization seeking her assistance for military families.  Shana participates in many avenues of volunteerism evident in her receipt of both the California Governor’s Award for community service as well as the President’s Award for community service.  She has worked in community awareness campaigns for domestic violence assistance organizations, Laura's House and Human Options, in addition to having walked the 39.3 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer for the past 5 years .  

Nominations were open for Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year for 45 days, in which she received more than ten separate nominations.  “I cried when I read each of them, I was humbled and honored to see that I made a difference to people.  That has always been my goal in life, to make a difference to just one person and I have succeeded.”  Mrs. Smith said when asked how she felt today.

Online voting for the next round of the 2013 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year — the branch level — will take place Feb. 5. The overall winner, elected from the branch finalists, will be revealed May 9.   To view Shana Smith’s profile and vote: http://msoy.militaryspouse.com/profile/Shana/Smith