Toni Ann Lalor was featured in a Jamaican local news outlet in September where she chronicled how she got into farming. The beauty Queen is also a teacher, mentor, actor, model and philanthropist.
After winning the ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ award during the Miss Jamaica World pageant; rather than the usual gallantry surrounding the naming of a Miss Jamaica United Nations; Toni Ann Lalor was specifically selected for the role because of her own charitable works.
“They [local organisers] were very impressed with the work that I was doing and then the Miss Jamaica United Nations is about charity, it’s about giving back, it’s about impacting the lives and making a difference, you know, being that change you want to see. Having won Miss Jamaica World Beauty with a Purpose, they invited me to an interview,” she said.
Lalor says that she had initially decided not to attend the interview. However, she changed her mind and was appointed queen.
Toni Ann Lalor has made her mark
“I think I’ve made my mark. I think I’ve been able to bring about awareness and widen my platform. So that was it for me, no thank you. But I just say, I gwine do it, win, lose or draw. And I just did the interview with them and they were very impressed. They were very pleased and they just said they would love to appoint me as the queen and just like that, they did and now I am Miss Jamaica United Nations,” she said.
“I think I’ve made my mark. I think I’ve been able to bring about awareness and widen my platform. So that was it for me, no thank you. But I just say, I gwine do it, win, lose or draw. And I just did the interview with them and they were very impressed. They were very pleased and they just said they would love to appoint me as the queen and just like that, they did and now I am Miss Jamaica United Nations,” she said.
The pageant, which is set to take place from February 1 to 7 at the Pride Plaza Hotel in Aerocity, New Delhi, India, will see contestants from all seven continents engaging in challenges to showcase their beauty, charity, and dedication to their nation.
“I’m very honoured to have been appointed and I’m very grateful for the love and support that Jamaica has given me, the first-ever Jamaican farmer to be a Miss Universe queen, a Miss Jamaica World queen and now a Miss Jamaica United Nations queen that will go overseas and represent,” she said. “And I just want to ask Jamaica for their continuous support and I am here to work and I am ready to make Jamaica proud, so ‘one love’!”