Angel Ward McCormick, Miss Washington USA 1994, defies the stereotypes that have surrounded a few beauty queens-- partying, drinking, scandalous photos.

Ward (her maiden name) is a former Burien resident and 1991 Highline High graduate. She is now executive director of the Dream-On Foundation, an organization she founded that works with other nonprofits.

She now resides in Utah, but Ward still maintains ties with her home state. Family is one reason. The other is so she can give back to the community she grew up in.

Ward was in Seattle this summer to work with the Seattle Junior Chamber of Commerce to sort and deliver 2,000 children's slippers to various organizations, including Burien's Ruth Dykeman Children's Center and New Futures.

"I would give anything to live in Washington again, but my husband's career is here [in Utah]," Ward said.

However, the distance does not stop her from her continued volunteer work here.

For the past 15 years, she has worked on projects that have donated food, clothing and toys to needy organizations in the local area. She is often on the phone seeing these projects through. The former Miss Washington USA maintains a Washington "206" area code phone number while living in Utah.

"I was very blessed [to win Miss Washington USA] and I used the title the way I chose to use it," Ward said.

Life as a pageant queen is a busy one, involving appearances at fundraisers and charity events that are planned weeks in advance. Any association with being a party girl would hurt badly. Such rules could be difficult to follow.

Not for Ward.

"To be honest, I was a really good girl," she said.

The former Miss Washington said that, instead of adhering to events that her director had set up, she would often choose her own, including auctions by the Boy Scouts of America and the Humane Society.

"I picked the things that I had my heart set on...and that I enjoyed," Ward added.

She did, however, refuse to attend one event on her schedule. After being driven in a limousine for a scheduled interview with a radio station, she soon learned the event was being held at a bar.

Ward recalls the memory with a laugh.

"I said, 'I'm sorry, but I can't be here with my crown and banner on and I'm 20," she recalled, barely able to hold back chuckles. Ward hopped back in her limo and did the interview over the phone.

"My director set that [event] up," she said matter-of-factly.

Photos of pageant winners at the wrong time and wrong place could ruin their image. The most recent scandal involved Miss Washington 2007, Elyse Umemoto, whose racy pictures made headline news.

Ward said it is a shame that beauty queens get such a bad rap.

"There are many more beauty queens doing community service and helping out [than the media chooses to show]," she said. "Those who are getting in trouble aren't using [their title] properly."

She also said that the media should focus more on the good deeds.

Asked if she would want her six-year-old daughter, Haley-Grace, to become involved with pageants, Ward hesitated.

"It's very cut-throat. I will never discourage her, but never encourage her," she noted.

If there's one thing that Haley-Grace is emulating, it's her mother's community service. The Seattle project to distribute slippers was her idea.

For more information on the Dream-On Foundation and its upcoming projects, go to www.dreamonfoundation.com.

(Judy Vue is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)