Introducing the ‘Youth of the Year’ for the Vestar Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale: Gabriel Eastin!
By Ty Davies
Teen Development Specialist
Gabe has been a member of the Vestar Branch for 4 years now, and is a great example of how the Boys & Girls Club can help teens reach their full potential. As a member of the teen leadership group, Keystone, Gabe has amassed over 250 hours of community service, helping run supply drives, assisting at a concussion awareness event, and giving his time to help paint a women’s shelter. Gabe has been selfless in giving his time to the Club.
This year Gabe has once again gone above and beyond. After being nominated in September, Gabe made the commitment to join the “Youth of the Year” program. As one of the premier programs offered by Boys & Girls Clubs, “Youth of the Year” asks a lot of its candidates, and Gabe was up to the challenge. Over the last several months, Gabe has written three essays and consistently revised a two and a half minute speech at weekly meetings. He has worked very hard to tell his Boys & Girls Club story. Some of his speech highlights include overcoming his social difficulties due his Asperger’s Syndrome, and also developing his tutoring skills by helping other Club members with their math assignments. Gabe’s speech is funny too, he describes being dubbed “The King of Flops” due to his tendency to end up on the floor during basketball games, or when he talks about performing “My Little Teapot” to earn ice cream. All of Gabe’s hard work paid off when he was awarded the title of Youth of Year for the Vestar Branch!
As a Junior at North High School, Gabe had a successful year on the golf team, even placing first in one of the many tournaments this season. Always up for a new challenge, Gabe is looking forward to the rigorous training of joining the wrestling team for his Senior year. Developing leadership skills is also important to Gabe, and to do so he joined North Family Leaders, which is a volunteer group at his high school which offers him yet another opportunity to develop into a positive and productive citizen. Gabe is certainly a busy young man and one with a very bright future.
Gabe now moves on to compete against eight other winners from each of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale branches to become the “Youth of the Year” representative for the organization. The winner will be announced on Saturday, February 20th, at the BGSC Blue Door Ball. This is an amazing event that features a live auction with all proceeds going to help serve over 18,000 youth that take part in daily Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale programming. Not only is Gabriel competing to win a variety of scholarships, but he is a young man that is very driven to reach his goals and represent his Boys & Girls Club. Good luck, Gabe!
Visit us at www.bgcs.org to see the results of the Blue Door Ball and learn about all of our program opportunities.
