Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year recognition is the highest honor a Club member can achieve. The Youth of the Year program, founded in 1947, celebrates youth who have overcome enormous odds and demonstrated exceptional character and accomplishments. These deserving young people are recognized for service to their Club and community, academic performance and contributions to their family.
Foley’s early memories in life in Boston include domestic fighting between his parents and living in a shelter with his mother. After school one day when he was 6, Foley’s mother didn’t come to pick him up. He was quickly placed in the foster care system and bounced around from home to home. That was, until his aunt and her partner took him from Boston to live with them in Pittsburgh and eventually adopted him in 2002. It was his aunt that introduced him to the Sarah Heinz House Boys & Girls Club.
“My Club is the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of,” says Foley. “Since the first time I saw the place, I knew it was where I belonged.” At the Club, Foley has truly taken advantage of everything the Club has to offer. He excelled at the athletic programs while showing a shining example of sportsmanship. As a teen, he became a leader in the Club as a Junior Staffer. He has also participated on the robotics team, in the music program and on the dance team. This summer, he is working as a counselor at the Boys & Girls Club’s summer resident camp.
Foley is currently the president of his Boys & Girls Club’s Keystone Club, a program that emphasizes leadership and community service. To date, he has logged over 1,500 hours of giving back to his community. These activities have included collecting items for a Pittsburgh resident who lost everything in a fire to organizing a Christmas toy drive for kids who lost a parent.
Foley is now in his senior year at Taylor Allderdice High School, a school he selected to attend based on its pre-engineering programs. Upon graduation in 2012, Foley plans to enter Pennsylvania State University to become a civil engineer.
Foley was selected by a panel of six prominent judges to receive this national recognition. Todd Wagner, a National Youth of the Year judge, recapped the experience noting, “It was a pleasure meeting these five exceptional youth. As a group, the judges and I were overwhelmed with their personal stories and found it extremely difficult to select just one to represent all Boys & Girls Club youth. We are so inspired by each young person and truly believe that their dreams will come true.” Wagner is a longtime advocate for after-school technology education and supported the creation of MIRACLES Technology Academies in Boys & Girls Clubs through the Todd Wagner Foundation.
“I am very proud of the accomplishments of Nicholas and all the YOY finalists,” said Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO, BGCA. “They are all living proof that great futures really do start at Boys & Girls Clubs.”
Foley’s fellow 2011 Youth of the Year finalists were: DeShaun Bennett from Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Arkansas; Tamika Mallett from Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana; Darnisha Victorain from Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County (Idaho); and Ahkeem Hollimon from Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. Foley is the 65th youth to receive this prestigious title and will serve a one-year term as the national teen spokesperson for the 4 million youth served annually by Boys & Girls Clubs.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericaFor more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, nearly 4,000 Clubs serve some 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native American lands throughout the country and on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 57 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.
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