Alyssa Ottmo, a homeschooled seventh-grade student of Blossom, was recently announced as one of three winners of Belk’s Kidfest 2021 – “Picture Kindness” t-shirt contest.
“I was very excited and surprised,” said Ottmo when she found out she won.
Ottmo said when it came to designing the shirt, her love for tie-dye gave her inspiration.
“I love the tie-dye and the design,” she said. “I thought ‘Kindness Rocks’ is simple but it is important that everyone is kind.”
As one of the winners in the nationwide contest, Ottmo received a $500 Belk gift card, $2,500 to be donated to a non-profit of her choice, and her design will be featured on a t-shirt sold online and in-store in Paris.
“We are very excited for Alyssa,” said Paris store manager Mandi Moses. “As big as Belk is, it’s nice to see someone from a small community being recognized and winning. To see a t-shirt designed by someone locally in stores is awesome.”
On Monday, Ottmo was joined by her parents, Brenda and Cecil, as well as her grandfather and representatives from Lamar County 4-H as she was presented the $2,500 check by Moses.
Ottmo chose Lamar County 4-H as the non-profit to donate to after she recently became a part of the organization.
“She talked about getting into it for a while and did this year and we thought it would be a good organization to donate the money to,” said mom Brenda.
The shirts are expected to be online by the end of the month and Moses confirmed they will be sold in-store locally.