The Metropolitan King County Council Monday honored Brittney Henry, Miss Washington 2011, for her work with low-income school children.

“I am very proud to present Miss Britney Henry with this recognition, not only for her pageantry talents, but also for her work as an advocate for low income children,” said council member Julia Patterson of Seatac, the sponsor of the recognition. “It’s not every day you see such a young individual working so hard to break the cycle of poverty and advocating for the success of Washington children.”

The Miss Washington pageant is held in Renton. Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC, a Renton car dealership, is the primary sponsor.

Raised by a single mother, Henry of Puyallup was one the first members of her family to attend college. She began competing in pageants four years ago as a way to help her pay for tuition, and since then, has been awarded over $25,000 in scholarship assistance and multiple pageant titles, according to a King County news release.

Henry was crowned Miss Washington at the 2011 Miss Washington pageant July 2 at Lindbergh High School. Her talent in the pageant was the fiddle, which she had been using to help raise money for her college tuition by playing it at the Pike Place Market after graduating high school.

Since she understands the challenges facing low-income children, Henry’s pageant platform was “Promoting Higher Education for Low Income Families.” Henry is an active volunteer for various Washington State nonprofit organizations, including her work as an adviser, motivational speaker and fundraiser for the Northwest Learning and Achievement Group. The Northwest Learning and Achievement Group is a Washington State non-profit focused on helping underrepresented students obtain higher education.

Henry thanked the County Council for the recognition and said the challenges she faced growing up are no different than the challenges that “40,000 low-income children in Washington State are facing today.” “We need to continue to support low-income students, so they will realize that they can obtain higher education,” said Henry.