Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Holiday 2020 | Page 13

“ IT INTRIGUED ME THAT THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE DIFFERENT FROM MY FAMILY ; THEY WERE SUFFERING .”

“ IT INTRIGUED ME THAT THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE DIFFERENT FROM MY FAMILY ; THEY WERE SUFFERING .”

KIMBERLY AIKEN COCKERHAM
CHARLES REX ARBOGAST , ASSOCIATED PRESS
career . Miss Georgia was an incredible tap dancer , and had the sweetest , most wonderful personality . She lives in Atlanta now , and is a doctor working on the front lines during COVID . I loved music . In high school , I was in the chorus and jazz , concert and marching bands , and I was the lead in the musical . That year we did Porgy and Bess . I fell in love with the song “ Summertime ”; it embodied the spirit of South Carolina . So I sang it in the Miss America Pageant .
THE “ PLIGHT OF THE HOMELESS ” WASYOUR “ PLATFORM ” DURING THE PAGEANT . WHY DID YOU FOCUS ON THATISSUE ? While onmyhigh school student council , I was in charge of the can and food drives for the local homeless . It intrigued me that there were so many people who were different from my family ; they were suffering . My family and I also volunteered on weekends sorting food at the Oliver Gospel Mission , and serving it during the holidays .
We found a lot of satisfaction as a family helping the homeless together , so it was a natural progression for me to start the HERO Foundation ( the summer after high school graduation ). My parents , who are local entrepreneurs , helped me find people who could donate old computers and help with resume preparation . When I became Miss America , I had a national platform for this issue , and national sponsors such as General Motors and Fruit of the Loom who could provide resources .
WHATWAS IT LIKE BEING IDENTI- FIED BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULPEOPLE IN THE WORLD ? In 1994 , while Iwas still Miss America , one of the pageant representatives called and said that People wanted to feature me as one
MEET THE PRESS The day after her Miss America win , Kimberly Aiken smiles at anews conference in Atlantic City ’ s Claridge Hotel .
of their 50 most beautiful people . The rep asked “ Is this something you ’ re interested in ?” and I said “ Of course !” They had me come to Atlantic City and do a nice photo shoot . I will always treasure that .
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE NORTHEAST ? Using the Miss America scholarship money , I transferred to NYU and finished my accounting degree . I had interned at Ernst & Young and was going to work there full-time , but I met this amazing man ( future husband Haven Cockerham ), and after we married , we relocated to Cincinnati for 10 years . During my kids ’ formative years , I sometimes traveled to do motivational speaking . Now I work for my family ’ s health care company ,
which is based in South Carolina . We provide care management services to various insurance companies . About six years ago , when my husband took a job with a company in Parsippany , we moved to New Jersey .
YOUWERE DIAGNOSEDWITH BREASTCANCERIN2017 . HOWARE YOUFEELING ? All of 2018 was devoted to treatment . I had a double mastectomy , six months of chemo and then radiation . Now I ’ ve been cancer-free and healthy for two years . I was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering , and I can ’ t say enough about them and the doctors there . Idid alot of reading and trying to understand what the doctors were telling me , but they understood more than me and what Ilearned on the internet , for sure .
HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED YOUR WORK ? I had it early on . It ’ s impacted so many people due to the loss of loved ones . My business serves the elderly , and in the care management piece of it , starting mid-March , we didn ’ t want to send nonessential workers into homes . That has impacted our business quite a bit . Some of those contracts have rightly gone away , because insurance companies can ’ t pay for our services due to local ordinances . Every industry has been affected , and so many are suffering .
WHAT BROUGHT YOUR FAMILY TO MAPLEWOOD ? We chose Maplewood because we really missed diversity in the community . When we had the opportunity to pick from wherever we wanted to live in New Jersey , we narrowed it down to Essex County , and fell in love with the people . My kids are 18 and 16 now . I ’ m trying to be as present aspossible to my teenagers . ■
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2020
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