On Thursday, February 9th, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain hosted its Annual Youth of the Year Celebration Dinner. Being named Youth of the Year is the highest honor a Boys & Girls Club member can receive. As Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s premier youth recognition program, the Youth of the Year title recognizes outstanding contributions to a member’s family, school, community and Boys & Girls Club, as well as personal challenges and obstacles overcome.
A’Niyah Grant was named Youth of the Year and received a $3,000 college scholarship. A’Niyah is a senior at South Central High School and has been a member at Jack Minges Boys & Girls Club for the past five years. In her time here she has achieved so much! She is the President of the Keystone Club and a true leader among her peers. She also took advantage of the Boys & Girls Clubs workforce initiative and worked as a paid staff this past summer, where she earned MVP as well as Leader of the Month. A’Niyah will go on to represent Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain at the North Carolina State Youth of the Year competition later this spring. We are so proud of her hard work and dedication to her Club and her community.
The dinner was hosted at the Hilton Greenville and sponsored by the generous support of PNC Bank. Finalists and their families along with staff, donors and friends of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain gathered to recognize and celebrate these youth that have exemplified the Boys & Girls Club mission and are proof to the impact Clubs make in transforming and saving kids’ lives. In addition to hearing from our youth, guests heard an inspirational message from Dereck Whittenburg, a motivational public figure who was a standout member of NC State’s 1983 National Championship basketball team under Coach Jim Valvano. In addition to his work with NC State, The V Foundation and his own Foundation, Dereck was a first-generation college graduate who was raised by hardworking parents that made education a priority for their son.
Fourteen finalists participated in the celebration dinner and all were awarded medals to honor their hard work throughout the rigorous Youth of the Year selection process. In addition to the organizational winner receiving a $3,000 scholarship, we also awarded the runner-up with a $1,000 scholarship. This year’s runner-up was Imani Hall, from the Jack Minges Teen Center in Winterville, NC. Also honored were the Junior Youth of the Year winner, Saraah Clark from the Jack Minges Club, as well as the Duane Reynolds Leadership Award winner, Leander Moore from the Havelock Club.
Congratulations to A’Niyah and all of the candidates for all of their hard work this year!
See more images from our celebration at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAs23y.