Tiffany Parker Tiffany Parker of Mount Rainier, who was named Ms. Maryland United States 2011 in January, will compete in the national pageant in Las Vegas this week.

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For Tiffany Parker, competing in beauty pageants isn't just the culmination of a dream she's had since childhood, but a way to encourage good deeds in the community.

The Mount Rainier resident, who was named Ms. Maryland United States 2011 in January, left for Las Vegas today to compete in the national United States Pageant, an affiliate of the Mrs. United States Pageant.

Parker said pageants have been a passion of hers since she was a little girl and watched the “Miss America” competition on TV. The passion stayed with her as she pursued a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's in accounting, said Parker, who works as an accountant in Annapolis.

“This is my release,” Parker said of the pageant world. “This is when I really come alive."

Parker said preparing for competition in Las Vegas, her first national pageant, was exciting but also challenging: She’s put herself on a diet and begun working out twice a day.

But Parker’s reign as Ms. Maryland United States hasn’t just been about sashes and tiaras.

“I wanted to make community service a part of my year,” said the Chicago native, who moved to Mount Rainier in 2009.

Although not a requirement of the title, Parker has used her time to partner with area nonprofits such as the Washington Area Women's Foundation, which sponsors philanthropic initiatives to improve the lives of women and girls in the region, and the LiteracyCares campaign, which runs literacy and tutoring programs.

Parker does outreach work for the foundation at events she attends and contributes to their blog with reflections on her experiences, such as attending a recent fundraiser to stop human trafficking.

“[Tiffany] has taken our mission and message to heart and told a lot of people about it,” said Mariah Craven, director of communications and marketing for the women’s foundation. “It's really [a great] way of supporting our work.”

Working with the literacy campaign, Parker has joined students from Northwestern High School on several Saturdays, tutoring pre-kindergarten through second-graders at Rosa L. Parks Elementary School. Both schools are in Hyattsville.

Parker also partnered with a cosmetics supplier this spring to provide makeovers to female students at Northwestern and Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro who had perfect attendance records and high grade-point averages.

“She's a very down-to-earth person, interested in ... getting involved,” said Rosa L. Parks principal Tracey Adesegun. “She has very good rapport with the young people. They really look up to her as a role model.”

dleaderman@gazette.net