By Lauren H. Dowdle
Photos by Frank Carnaggio, Hope Finley, Willie Moore & Contributed
From the stage to her community service initiative, Abbie Stockard leaves a lasting mark on everything she’s involved with. Now, she can expand her reach across the state and beyond as Miss Alabama 2024.
The third time proved to be the charm for the Vestavia Hills native when she was crowned Miss Alabama this past summer, and she’s not the only one in her family to have competed for this achievement.
Her mother participated in Miss Alabama when she was a teenager, and Abbie remembers watching the Miss Alabama and Miss America competitions with her when she was growing up. However, it wasn’t until Abbie was a freshman in college that she entered her first competition, when she saw that the winner of Miss Auburn University won a full year of tuition.
“I didn’t feel prepared, but I applied and decided to go for it and maybe get some scholarship money,” says Abbie, who is a nursing student at Auburn.
She ended up winning third runner-up in the competition. That gave her the encouragement she needed to enter Miss Cahaba Valley the next weekend, and she won the title.
“I feel like I truly fell in love with the organization and everything it stood for,” Abbie says. “I got to perform my talent on the stage again and have a voice and a platform for the cystic fibrosis community.”
Since then, she’s also taken home the crowns for Miss Trussville and Miss Hoover before being named Miss Alabama. Abbie will represent the state when she competes in the Miss America competition in January in Orlando.
In the months leading up to Miss America, she will make appearances at local preliminaries across the state, design her wardrobe for the competition, work out with a personal trainer, practice dance for the talent portion and continue building partnerships for the Miss America organization.
“As Miss Alabama, I can represent the whole state,” Abbie says. “There are so many parts I’ve never traveled to, and I’m excited to travel to almost every county within the state. I want to use this title to touch hearts and lives with my service and reach a broader audience.”
A major part of that goal has been fundraising and spreading awareness about her community service initiative, Be the Change—Find a Cure: Cystic Fibrosis Awareness. Her passion for supporting the cystic fibrosis community started when she met her best friend, Maddie Hagler, in elementary school.
Maddie has cystic fibrosis, and Abbie says she wanted to do everything she could to help her friend and others suffering from this disease. Abbie has participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Great Strides Walk and visited elementary schools to educate children on cystic fibrosis and how to show kindness and empathy to others who are different than them.
Abbie has also partnered with UAB for a social media Q&A series, published articles and worked with Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, to pass a resolution that declared May 26 as Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Day.
Even still, the largest initiative she’s been a part of to date was the fundraiser she spearheaded for the roast of Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis earlier this year. With sports commentator Paul Finebaum as the emcee, the event attracted more than 350 attendees and raised more than $190,000. The money went directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s funding of research locally at UAB.
“It took nine months of planning, and I was extremely thankful and excited for the event,” Abbie says. “That was the largest fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in the state of Alabama. I hope with these efforts that we get closer to finding a cure. I truly believe there will be a cure found during this lifetime.”
In addition to providing her with a bigger platform to spread awareness about cystic fibrosis, Abbie says one of her favorite parts about competing in Miss Alabama has been building relationships with like-minded women.
“I loved the whole sisterhood component,” Abbie says. “All of the girls are so driven, supportive and encouraging, and that was the environment I wanted to be a part of.”
During the past three years of competing, Abbie has earned more than $36,000 in scholarship money. With a twin brother in nursing school at Auburn and a younger sister who recently started at the university as well, Abbie says she wanted to be able to help her parents.
“I’m so thankful for the scholarship money,” she says. “It’s one of the reasons why I encourage people to get involved with this organization. You can offset the price of college. I’ve also acquired so many skillsets beyond my title.”
No matter how many crowns she’s won or how far she travels, Abbie has stayed true to her hometown roots.
“I’m a Vestavia native, so I’m honored to get to represent this community that basically raised me,” Abbie says. “Vestavia is such an amazing community.”
Meet Miss Alabama
As the reigning Miss Alabama, Abbie Stockard will attend many of the local preliminary pageants for Miss Alabama 2025 across the state. The full list of competition dates and locations can be found at missalabama.com/local-preliminary-schedule.
To see more of Abbie’s upcoming events, follow her on Instagram at @abbiestockard and @missamericaal. Anyone interested in booking her for an event can contact missalabama@missalabama.com.
