Lake City celebrates back-to-back regional Youth of the Year representatives.
Genesis Majors was named the 2024 Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area Youth of the Year during the annual Steak-N-Burger Dinner on Tuesday, March 5, at First Presbyterian Church.
“The Club taught me the importance of self-worth and resilience,” Majors says.
Describing herself as an intelligent, brave overcomer, the J. Paul Truluck Creative & Science Magnet School student struggled to understand her identity and how she fit in with society.
“Mentally, I was lost,” she says.
Working with teachers and Club staff, she learned to embrace her identity and moved past a speech impediment that challenged her. She plays softball and likes to volunteer.
Now, Majors calls herself charismatic and ambitious. She plans to attend the University of South Carolina Upstate to play softball and to study nursing upon graduation. She wants to dedicate herself to helping those in need.
“For the second year in a row, Lake City has produced the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year winner! Congratulations to Genesis Majors for this well-deserved recognition. Your achievement not only speaks highly of you but also showcases the caliber of young people that our city produces,” says Lake City Mayor Yamekia Robinson.
The 2023 Lake City Youth of the Year Justin McNair went on to earn the regional and state titles. He currently studies at Florence Darlington Technical College and volunteers at the Lake City Club.
Runner-up Taylor Lewis of Hemingway received a $1,000 scholarship.
You would never know from her presence and posture on stage that she used to be nervous and antisocial.
“I want to come to people’s defense,” she says. In 2021, her sister TK won the regional Youth of the Year title and helped inspire her to make the Youth of the Year one of her goals.
“They encourage me when I’m down, build me up when I’m having a bad day and hold me accountable when I’m wrong,” she says of the Rick & Susan Goings Boys & Girls Club staff.
The six-year club member is one of nine children with parents that both work long hours.
“The Club is a place where a kid can really be a kid,” she says, crediting staff Mrs. McCrea for her support. “She loves me like her own daughter.”
Lewis plans to attend an HBCU in the Atlanta area to become a lawyer and move to New York.
Besides the Club, she helps at home and participates at two churches. She loves reading, especially nonfiction, and reading what people are going through.
