NATCHEZ — The little girl who once staged a Thanksgiving play in Ella and Calvin Young Jr.’s living room is now staging relief efforts for disaster victims around the world.

Megan Lynne Young — the daughter of Calvin Young III and the granddaughter of Adams County residents Ella and Calvin — was crowned Miss World in Bali, Indonesia Sept. 30, a crowning that followed her winning the Miss World Philippines contest earlier in the year.

Megan, 23, had already had some public exposure as an actress and television host, Ella said, but had initially resisted the suggestion she enter the pageant.

“This was something that she had been asked to do for several years, and she had turned them down because she didn’t really see any point in it, but when she found out that with this contest, the person who is crowned has the slogan ‘Beauty with a purpose,’ and they go all over the world where there are disaster areas raising funds to help people who have been affected,” Ella said.

“I had no idea she had even entered the contest until she was crowned Miss World Philippines and then went on to win Miss World.”

Megan is scheduled to visit 30 countries as part of her Miss World tour, and hasn’t been able to visit the Natchez area since her crowning, but the family is still able to keep in touch through the Internet.

And while with the crown comes a certain amount of glamour, shortly after taking the title Megan visited a disaster-affected area in which the stage she was standing on collapsed, though she was unhurt, Ella said.

Megan and her siblings were born in the United States, and moved to the Philippines when she was 10. Megan’s mother, Victoria Talde Young, is originally from the Philippines.

In the intervening years, Megan and her family members have visited a number of times, and Ella said she has always been impressed with her granddaughter.

“I have seen several interviews she has done, and I am just amazed at how poised and how unruffled she is when she gets asked questions,” Ella said.

“She is a sweet girl, she is more than beauty, she has her feet solidly on the ground and knows what life is about and how she wants to live.”