Resources For Military Families: A Path To Advocacy For Andrea McClew

The military family has been part of the fabric of the United States since the Revolutionary War. Since the earliest days of the nation, the service and sacrifice of military members has, by necessity, involved the service and sacrifice of the members of their families.

According to the National Military Family Association (NMFA) 14% of American households rely on food banks, but when it comes to the military, that number is 25%. The reigning Mrs. California US America, Andrea McClew is a military spouse of 14 years and mother to two kids - "Me and my husband have survived 4 deployments together in our own way. Its very difficult trying to convey to people what the military lifestyle is like for both the spouses and families and pageantry was my way to explain a lot of unanswered questions" - she explained.

It also helped her introduce to pageantry an organization that she is very passionate about which is the ASYMCA-Armed Services YMCA. A free to low cost program designed to help military families in need. As an optician Andrea would like to start a program that will allow low income military families to receive high quality eyewear at little to no cost.


Tell me something about yourself and your work. What do you actually do? And have done in the past?

When I am not doing appearances, volunteer work, or events, I am an Optician. I work with high tech machines such as retinal scans, glaucoma testing’s and refractions, that help detect diseases of the eyes. I also help patients pick out the proper eyewear for the prescription given by the doctor. Its a very fun and rewarding job. I hope  Before being an optician, I taught and performed belly dancing and taught kickboxing for 3 years. There’s a little Shakira in every woman. If you shimmy with confidence and class. 

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Being a young girl who was dorky and goofy and only interested in books and sports…well still am. I never thought I was pretty enough to be a beauty queen, never thought I had the confidence to walk on stage in a bathing suit. But I started to believe that my goal to advocate for military families outweighed any ounce of fear I had. And that shy awkward goofy girl who wore glasses is now a grown woman and your current Mrs. California US America 2018!! My dreams have and continue to become fulfilled. So, to any little girl that feels that her dream of becoming a queen will never happen. I will tell them to live by my life motto from the late singer Selena Quintanilla- “The impossible is always possible” keep dreaming, keep achieving, and keep moving forward.