Alexandrea “Alex” Rucker was formally recognized by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis as the organization’s 2014 Youth of the Year at its 12th annual Recognition Event, held Thursday, June 5 at Neo on Locust, 2801 Locust St.
Rucker, who emceed the event, began with a quote from African-American writer Ralph Ellison. “The only person you are destined to become is the person that you decide to be,” she recited.
She has decided to be “an inspiration to others,” she told the audience. When her mother enrolled her in a summer camp at the Boys & Girls Clubs when she was 11, she had no idea how her life would be changed.
The Boys and Girls Clubs helped her get through some difficult times in her life, she said. Many of her classmates drank, smoke and engaged in sexual behavior. She was labeled a “good girl” for going against the grain and she felt like an outsider, she said. Her time at the Boys & Girls Clubs taught her that it is “okay to be different,” she said.
“Every teenager goes through that phase when they feel like they need to belong,” she said. “I was encouraged to be myself.”
Her new friends at the Boys & Girls Clubs were supportive and staff members took Rucker under their wings when she had no one to turn to, she said.
As the oldest of four siblings, she chooses to lead by example. In May she graduated from Lindbergh High School, and she will attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in the fall on a full-ride scholarship. The university annually awards scholarships to Youth of the Year recipients, she said. She will study elementary education.
Rucker is now employed at the Boys & Girls Clubs and sees it as an opportunity to give back. “I can be the staff person who makes a difference in the kids’ lives,” she said.
Volunteers make a difference in kids’ lives, too. Lucille Jennings, Donna Branca, Maurice Green and Theresa Perry received the inaugural Carl Woods Volunteer of the Year Award. The award is named for Carl Woods, the first African-American professional in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Movement. Woods spent 37 years in the movement.
Jennings is a retired school teacher who began volunteering with Mentor St. Louis at Cote Brilliante Elementary School. This was during the 2013-14 school year, before Mentor St. Louis merged with the Boys & Girls Clubs.
“When you’re working with kids,” Jennings said, “it’s like a drug in a way.”
Her passion is helping youth overcome obstacles that had previously challenged them, Jennings said. She hopes that through mentorship she will plant a seed that will grow and help a child become a better person.
“The young are still pliable,” Jennings said.
Timothy Banks, Anthony Davis Sr., Ashley Gray and Alonzo Shaw were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Honor. Since its inception in 2003, nearly 50 individuals have been inducted into the hall. Childhood photos of each were perched on easels next to the podium.
Shaw, a product of the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood in North St. Louis, said in his childhood photo he had a wide-eyed, carefree look in his eyes, as yet unaware of the “crazy” world he was about to grow up in.
The award symbolizes a commitment to his community, Shaw said. Shaw is a proud member of the Urban League Guild of Metropolitan St. Louis and Youth on the Move Crusade, Inc. In 2013, Shaw joined Reliance Bank as a community development officer.
“I turned out to be not-so bad after all, a successful individual,” he said, “and I don’t want to forget my community.”
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