For the last five decades, the Reader's Digest Foundation has generously sponsored the Youth of the Year initiative, making it the premier recognition program for Boys & Girls Club members.

Thanks to the foundation, hundreds of hardworking and deserving young people have received the encouragement they needed to make the successful transition to adulthood. Boys & Girls Clubs of America is grateful to the Reader's Digest Foundation for its continuing commitment to improve the future for our nation's disadvantaged youth.


The Youth of the Year program brings hope and opportunity to extraordinary young people who have overcome enormous odds. It is a comprehensive, nationwide initiative that promotes and celebrates Boys & Girls Club members' service to Club, community and family; academic performance; spiritual values; and life goals, as well as poise and public speaking ability.

Each year, a series of competitions on the local, state and regional levels produces finalists from each of BGCA's five regions. These winners gather in Washington, D.C., to compete for the coveted honor of National Youth of the Year. Following interviews with an elite panel of judges, the National Youth of the Year is announced at a prestigious Congressional Breakfast. The winner is then installed by the President of the United States, and spends the next year traveling across the country as a representative of and spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.