PHOTOS: Much to Celebrate at Boys & Girls Club’s 2024 Youth of the Year Event

The 56th annual Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich Youth of the Year Celebration on Wednesday night was worth everyone’s journey through a nor’easter to the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich.

“This is quite a different year for us. We are not in our clubhouse,” Boys & Girls Club CEO Cristina Vittoria said to the gathered crowd. “We are upgrading our clubhouse and undergoing an ambitious renovation and expansion project.”

Vittoria noted the clubhouse at 4 Horseneck Lane was built in the 1930s had not been significantly altered in 20 years.

“Even though we have to close our clubhouse for over a year to make these improvements, we made a commitment to our community and families in Greenwich to continue to provide safe and affordable after school care to our kids,” Vittoria said, adding that with the help of Greenwich Public Schools, the Club serves over 225 children a day.

In 2025, the renovated and expanded building will reopen and feature a new teen center, double instructional and academic spaces, a new STEAM room (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) lab, a full size basketball court and other necessary improvements to HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems.

Ms Vittoria said the Youth of the Year event was more than a one-night event, but rather a process that starts when the teens first come to the Club, often at age six, when she said they “realize the endless possibilities to achieve greatness when barriers are removed and access to opportunities is offered.”

The 2024 Youth of the Year winner, selected from a list of outstanding candidates, was Greenwich High School senior, Omar Badr.

Omar is the Keystone Club president whose interest in STEM was sparked through the Club’s Khan Academy programs.

“I’ve seen so much. I’ve traveled to California, and I’ve traveled to Dallas, Texas for the national Keystone conferences, and gained so much from those experiences. I couldn’t imagine where I’d be without that,” Omar said. “The people there always encouraged me to do better.”

Omar acknowledged that in his freshman year of high school he hadn’t been motivated, but he turned that around with support from the Boys & Girls Club.

“I’m now enrolled in AP Physics C and AP Calculus BC – just to name a few classes that show my dedication to my education compared to where I came from.”

“This community is one of the best communities in the nation. Greenwich – everything is so accessible – from now forward my passion is dedicating my time to helping others, just as the Club has helped me,” he said to applause.

Omar said next hear he planned to enroll at UConn Storrs to study electrical engineering and thanked Mr. Winham and Ms Lawrence for the scholarship program.

“I know that going to college would be so much harder for me and my family if it weren’t for the amazing scholarship program we have here at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich,” Omar added. “The Club that is filled with opportunity, filled with amazing people, and the Club that has made me the man I am today, has made me so grateful.”

Omar will go on to be among the state pool of Youth of the Year candidates and the possibility of national recognition out of 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs.

Including Omar, the 11 nominees, all impressive, were Salma Badr, George Benner, Christian Dudzinski, Scott Dudzinski, Daniela Hernandez, Ryder King, Daniella Mutis, Sydney Niemynski, Jake Phillips and Diego Silva.

Larry Lawrence presented the David Ogilvy Award for Character, Kindness and Integrity was awarded to Jake Phillips, also a senior at Greenwich High School.

Mr. Lawrence said Omar had been a leading candidate during interviews.

“We each had a question to ask and one question was, ‘Who do you admire?’ and Jake got emotional and choked up – we didn’t know if he’d say Mahatma Gandhi, or my mother, or Don (Palmer) or some celebrity. He said, ‘It’s really one of my fellow members who is competing for the Youth of the Year award. That took a generosity of spirit which is consistent with who David Ogilvy was as a person,” Mr. Lawrence said.

The Junior Youth of the Year was Yasmine Bruce who was introduced by Daniela Hernandez (Youth of the Year candidate) and Ryder King (Youth of the Year candidate and 2022 Jr Youth of the Year winner).

Yasmine, a 13-year old 8th grader at Eastern Middle School said she was grateful for the many opportunities it provided since she joined the Club in kindergarten, including Smart Girls, Torch Club, Finance Champs and Khan Academy and ZAC Camp.

Mindy Midy and Michael Rincon introduced the 2024 Champions of Youth Award recipients, Sally Lawrence and Chris Winham.

Ms Lawrence joined the Club’s board 20 years ago. She co-chaired the Scholarship Committee for the past 10 years and was also the Board Secretary for 14 years.  Mr. Winham has been on the board for 12 years and for the last decade has co-chaired the Scholarship Committee.

The Scholarship Committee gave $353,000 to 52 young people in 2023 and this year they are on track to distributing $400,000 in scholarships.

The scholarships are robust especially because of the donations from the Breed family who pledged $1 million over ten years.