Nashua Teen, Danelis Alejo, selected as the New Hampshire State Youth of the Year, by Boys & Girls Clubs in New Hampshire

Danelis Alejo, a senior at Nashua High School South and a six-year member of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua was named 2009 Youth of the Year for New Hampshire by Boys & Girls Clubs in New Hampshire at an awards banquet held on May 27^th at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. 

Meeting the rigorous requirements of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year program, Danelis represented her Club and competed against the Club Youth of the Year representatives from each of the six other Clubs in New Hampshire.  She was selected by a distinguished panel of judges who interviewed each of the seven candidates individually for approximately 30 minutes.  

In accepting this honor, Alejo said “I hope that I am able to have an impact on the younger members of the Club the way the staff have had an impact on me.”  

Being named Youth of the Year is the highest honor a Boys & Girls Club member can receive.  It recognizes sound character, leadership skills, outstanding contributions to family, school, community and to the Boys & Girls Club.  This program, founded over 60 years ago, and maintained in large part through the continued generosity of the Reader’s Digest Foundation, also recognizes personal challenges and obstacles overcome.   

As an active member of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, Alejo has held leadership positions, as secretary and president of the Keystone Club, a teen service program of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  She represented the Nashua Club on the steering committee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Keystone Conference in 2008.   Her dedication to the community stretches beyond Club walls, as she volunteers weekly with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.   Alejo also excels in honors classes and is ranked in the top fifth of her high school class. 

In addition to winning this prestigious title, Alejo will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Reader’s Digest Foundation.  She will represent New Hampshire this summer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America northeast regional competition.  The winner of that competition will go on to the national finals in Washington, DC in September.

As part of Comcast’s strong support of the New Hampshire Boys & Girls Club since 2003, the company has been the leading sponsor of the Youth of the Year program in New Hampshire for several years.   This year, in addition to generous financial support, Comcast will also produce a highlights package on the youth of the year celebration that will be available on its “Get Local” On Demand service soon after the event.  Earlier this year, Comcast also furthered its commitment to the organization with a $60,000 grant to enhance the ability of all seven clubs statewide to deliver innovative programs in the crucial areas of Internet Safety and computer literacy.   

Joining Comcast this year as sponsors were:  The Common Man Family of Restaurants, Lincoln Financial Group, and PR Restaurants, LLC (Panera Bread). 

During the morning before the judging and awards banquet, the seven Club Youths of the Year were honored at the State House.  They met with Governor Lynch, Senate President Sylvia Larsen, Speaker of the House Terie Norelli, and were honored in the Senate with proclamations from each of their Senators.

Serving as judges this year were:  Eddie Edwards, chief, Bureau of Enforcement, NH Liquor Commission; John Fouhy, vice president, Government & Community Relations, Comcast; Alex Ray, chief executive officer The Common Man Family of Restaurants, Linda Robinson, educator and community leader, Graham Theodore, district manager, PR Restaurants, LLC.   

The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua annually serves 4,200 boys and girls ages 5-18 in Nashua, Merrimack and Litchfield. It reaches another 10,000 youngsters in the community. Offering a variety of programs and wholesome activities to build attitudes, skills, values and behaviors that enable youth to succeed in adulthood, the Club’s vision is for all children to have a safe place to go after school to develop the best within themselves and experience the joys of childhood. The club is staffed with professional, caring adults and is open to all children. Members is $15 per year and no child is turned away for inability to pay.