QUITMAN —
The Valdosta chapter of the Boys and Girls Club lauded their “Youth of the Year” award winner with the club’s new Thompson Memorial Scholarship, an award named in honor of one of the club’s previous members who lost his life to cancer.
The $1,000 scholarship will be given to each year’s recipient of the Youth of the Year award, the club’s highest honor, according to Matthew Jensen, the vice president of marketing and development for the Boys & Girls Club of Valdosta.
Kwanisha Shuler, a graduate of Valdosta High School and freshman at Wiregrass Technical College, was the first recipient of the scholarship, which was created by an anonymous donor as a memorial for the late Kevin Thompson.
“Kevin and Kwanisha are great examples of how lives can be shaped through the Club,” said Jensen. “Kevin's determination to stay in college while undergoing a very difficult struggle with cancer is directly related to the continued fight Kwanisha has set for her academic and career goals.”
Kevin Thompson was a Lowndes High School graduate and a Valdosta State University student when he lost his three-year battle with cancer. He was just 22 years old.
“If he was here today, he’d (tell you he) wanted to become a pediatric cancer doctor,” according to a letter from Kevin’s mother. “He would tell you to take your studies seriously and make the most of all your opportunities.”
Kevin played baseball for Lowndes, but he got his start playing at the Boy and Girls Club. He was involved in the club’s leagues all of his life and his family has been involved with the club for years, according to Jensen.
“This is the way God intervenes daily and continues to shed light on a very dark experience,” said Jensen. ”We’re hopeful that this scholarship will honor Kevin's life while giving life to so many.”
The Valdosta chapter of the Boys and Girls Club was started in the 1950’s to charter a collection of youth sports programs for the community, according to Jensen. He said the local chapter has served an average of 580 youths each day this summer and the club expects to welcome an increase of 10 to 20 percent more youth next summer.
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