2023 Youth of the Year

Please join us as we congratulate Cameron Smith as our 2023 Youth of the Year competition winner. Cameron is a member of the Oprah Winfrey Unit located in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Cameron will be competing in the statewide competition to held in Jackson in March. If he is successful in winning the state competition he will then move on to the Southeast Regional Competition held in Atlanta,GA later this year.

For more than 70 years, the Youth of the Year has been the premier program to showcase teens with outstanding communication skills, service to their community, academic excellence and a dedication to living a healthy lifestyle. 

"I have been a member of the Boys & Girls Club since I was 5 years old. I am now a 17 year old young man that was nominated to represent my BGC, which is the Oprah Winfrey Unit located in my hometown of Kosciusko,MS. The memories and lessons I have learned have been priceless. My Boys & Girls Club has helped me tremendously, I started off as a very shy kid now I am the light in every room that I am in. Through positive staff connections and programming I have learned that it is okay to stand out and not fit in with everyone else. The positive energy and motivation that comes from this place is why it will always be my second home" said Smith.