Countywide : Boys and Girls Club Honors 23 Youths

Twenty-three Youths of the Year were named by the Boys and Girls Club of Orange County during an awards banquet Thursday night at Knott’s Berry Farm.

The youths were selected from more than 30,000 Boys and Girls Club members throughout the county.

Juan Macias, 18, who has been a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana for 12 years, said he was ecstatic about being named one of the winners. “It’s a great feeling,” he said.

Macias, who plans to become a doctor, said he escaped the gang and drug influence in his Santa Ana neighborhood while at the club and learned valuable lessons about self-esteem and respect.

He volunteered in the relief effort with the Red Cross in San Clemente and Tijuana during the recent storms. “The club teaches kids to give back to the community and keeps us out of gangs and off the streets,” Macias said.

The other winners were:

Evelyn Arredondo, 12, of Anaheim; Benjamin Jacobson, 16, and Holly Veale, 14, of Buena Park; Brandy Balsam, 13, and Helen Flores, 11, of Costa Mesa; Sherry Ramirez, 14, of Fountain Valley; Jose Herrera, 17, and Ernesto de Gracia, 12, of Fullerton; Bill Meeks, 15, of Garden Grove; Jason Silletto, 11, of Huntington Beach; Ryan Cummings, 9, of Irvine; Angie Rojas, 14, of La Habra.

Teo Moore, 16, of Laguna Beach; Ned Algeo, 11, of Newport Beach; Salvador Ambriz, 12, of Placentia; Karmin Pulos, 14, and Jonas Bush, 15, of San Clemente; Daniel Schoonover, 17, of Stanton; Regina Wagner, 10, and Danny Rangey, 11, of Tustin; and Yadira de la Cruz, 11, and Miguel Beccera, 12, of Westminster.

The winners will compete with winners from Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties to become Southern California’s Youth of the Year in July. Two winners are then sent to compete for the state title. Then comes regional competition with eight other states and, in September, a national Youth of the Year is chosen.

“It’s important that we give kids positive recognition for the good stuff they’re doing,” said M.E. Raco, an executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Orange County. “They all have the opportunity to win scholarships and visit the White House if they win national Youth of the Year.”