The University of Kentucky hosted The Luckiest Benefit, an event dedicated to raising awareness for the foster care system, at the Gatton Student Center.
On Tuesday, April 8, The Lucky Ones Foundation held celebrity performances from Kentuckians who participated in the Miss America organization, a podcast panel discussing foster care reform and a fashion show to fundraise for the foster care programs.
According to The Lucky Ones Foundation website, the nonprofit is dedicated to providing support and resources to transition-age children in the southern bluegrass region of Kentucky.
Founder and President of the Lucky Ones Foundation, Ariana Rodriguez, said she hopes the event amplifies the voices of those who have had their voices unheard.
“They’re (foster youth) constantly told to be quiet,” Rodriguez said. “This was an event that we really wanted to encourage them to speak up and to share their stories and advocate for change.”
When creating The Lucky Ones Foundation, Rodriguez said her personal experiences with foster care shaped the vision she had for the nonprofit.
“I spent time myself in foster care when I was younger, about 8 years in kinship care and 2 years in the foster care system,” Rodriguez said. “I saw the struggles firsthand that children in foster care face and I wanted to change that.”
According to Rodriguez, the event tied two important things together that impacted Rodriguez’s life, pageantry and foster care.
Rodriguez said the Miss America foundation has been a big part of her life with her recent crowning as Miss Bardstown 2025.
“It all combines with pageantry, which might seem kind of silly, like, how do foster kids and pageantry come together?” Rodriguez said. “But really being in pageantry and having the opportunity to compete within the Miss America organization has transformed my life.”
According to Rodriguez, both of her identities shaped her life and continue to influence it.
“Foster care set me up for failure, but the Miss America organization has truly set me up for success, and it means so much to me to be able to compete,” Rodriguez said.
The panel said it’s important to continue speaking about the issue to spread awareness as they said their personal experiences.
“It’s (the system) set up to have a specific kind of life unless you fight 10 times harder than everyone else,” Rodriguez said. “You are not a statistic. That’s exactly why we’re here today, is to show that there are people who are beating these statistics.”
The event continued with several performances from different Miss America contestants from the Commonwealth, including current Miss Danville, Elizabeth King.
King said she got the inspiration for her vocal performance from foster kids who beat the challenges they experienced.
“These foster kids, they get to defy gravity every day (and) defy expectations and that’s what Ariana (Rodriguez) is doing with her whole life,” King said.
According to King, the event was not just about the fashion show or musical performances, but the children in the foster care system currently facing hardship.
“Foster children deserve the world,” King said. “Everything that we’re doing here today, raising money and also educating ourselves on foster care and the foster care system here in Kentucky, and what we can do in our everyday lives to support these children, that’s the value of this being on UK’s campus.”
During a panel discussion, a group of foster care alumni and social workers discussed the misconceptions and hardships in the foster care system.
Western Kentucky University social work student, Tyler Hunter, said his experiences in foster care gave him a sense of appreciation for the life he has had and the experiences he has faced.
“I’m lucky for the vulnerability of using that experience to succeed into communities and individuals who come from my similar type of background,” Hunter said. “I’m lucky to have a cup that pours love, a cup that pours hope, a cup that pours healing, a cup that pours community.”
