Minnesota Miss Amazing Junior Teen Shares Message of Inclusion and Acceptance

Addie Loerzel visited Moorhead Public Library to Read to Children in the area

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Having a disability doesn’t make a person much different than anyone else.

That is the message Minnesota Miss Amazing Junior Teen, Addie Loerzel of Moorhead, is spreading to others across the state.

“Even though kids might have disabilities, they can still accept them for the way they are,” Loerzel said.

To reach as many people as possible with this important lesson, Addie has made it a mission to visit schools, daycares, and libraries to read to kids who – whether they have a disability or not – are just like her.

“A a mom, I have always wanted her to be accepted and treated the same as everybody else and that is kind of the goal of these readings that she does,” Addie’s mother, Marisa Loerzel, said.

Addie doesn’t just connect with her peers through books either, she also uses something almost everyone loves: candy.

“One of the ways she tries to reach kids is to compare people with M&M’s,” Marisa said. “If you take an M&M, the most important part of the M&M is the inside. The good stuff is the chocolate and that is kind of like people too.”

“That shows them that we are more alike than different,” adds Addie. “And shows them that it doesn’t matter what color [they are] or what they look like. All that matters is what is on the inside.”

Whether its through winning pageants or speaking to a room full of kids, Addie exemplifies her own message by refusing to let her disability stop her from doing the same things anyone else can do.

“I am so proud,” Marisa says with a smile. “I think back to when she was a toddler and there was times where I questioned whether she would ever even be able to talk and now here she is meeting people, reading to kids, answering questions, doing amazing things so I am super proud of her.”