INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Cristian Zamora was named Youth of the Year during the ninth annual Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year celebration at the Richardson Center at the Mueller Campus of Indian River State College on Jan. 31.
Zamora is a member of the Fellsmere Boys & Girls Club. He is a senior at Sebastian River High School and is on the cross country team, the track team, and the Lacrosse team.
He is also on the yearbook committee, the future business leaders of America, the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, and the spirit club. He volunteers at Treasure Coast Community Health and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, both in Fellsmere.
Zamora was one of two nominees for the award, the other being Cheyanne Brown, an 8th grader at Gifford Middle School and member of the Vero Beach Boys & Girls Club. Both Zamora and Brown received Kindles for competing and finishing first at their respective clubs.
Judges this year were Michael Kint, CEO of the United Way of IRC; Claudia Jiménez, school board member for district 5 and vice chairman of the board; and Cynthia Falardeau, executive director of the Education Foundation.
Dr. David Sullivan, Provost of Indian River State College, attended the event and presented Zamora with a two year scholarship to IRSC. Also in attendance were several members of the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River County.
Board member Fritz Blaicher personally presented Zamora with a scholarship to cover the costs of textbooks while attending IRSC. Zamora also received a $100 gift card from the organization.
“My biggest goal is to go to college and succeed in life. I am dedicated to making that happen. I will be the first one in my family to attend college. I plan to pursue a career in medicine,” Zamora stated.
“We could not be more proud of Cristian. He is a young man who knows what he wants, and his maturity and determination will allow him to realize his dreams. We are extremely grateful to Indian River State College for playing a huge part in making those dreams come true,” explained Elizabeth Thomason, executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River.
Youth of the Year is BGC of Indian River County’s premier youth recognition program for club members and is designed to recognize our most outstanding young people. Being named a Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year is the highest honor a club member can receive.
Club members are judged on the following criteria: service to home and family; moral character; community service; school leadership and service; academic performance; service to the Boys & Girls Club; life goals; two written essays; and public speaking ability.
Local Clubs recognize members ages 14-to-18 who were Youths of the Month and select a Youth of the Year, who then participates in the state competition.
Five regional winners will each receive a $10,000 scholarship and compete at the national level. The National Youth of the Year receives up to an additional $50,000 scholarship and is installed by the President of the United States.
For information on how you, your business, or service organization might sponsor the local Youth of the Year program, please call Angela Astrup at (772) 299-7449.