Night Among the Stars awards scholarships to local youth

Pictured are Karen Kuns, president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce; Rebecca Gomez, Stellar Volunteer Award winner; Lisa Landau, Seal Beach Lions/Leos, and Lina Lumme, The Youth Center executive director. Courtesy photo

Seal Beach Leo Rebecca Gomez is among the nominees

Eleven philanthropic youth volunteers from nine local nonprofits were recognized at The Youth Center’s 7th Annual A Night Among the Stars awards ceremony on Jan. 26 for their amazing commitment to give back to their community.

The night was filled with moving stories of the many causes the students have dedicated their free time to over the last year or more — causes involving raising awareness and funds for Crohn’s Disease, tutoring elementary and middle school students, protesting gun violence and advocating for gun control locally and in Washington, D.C., creating social media campaigns about the dangers of texting and driving, and giving hope to children and teens who struggle with difficult challenges, just to name a few. The event packed room was inspired by every nominee’s effort to make this world, challenged by so many difficult issues, a better place.

Lina Lumme, Executive Director of The Youth Center, said, “It’s easy to give up and do nothing. These Stellar Volunteers give their time and talents to give us all a brighter future by making a difference in our community.”

Nominees acknowledged for this year’s awards included:

Kaylie Matthews – Rossmoor resident – The Youth Center

Vivian Ramirez – Anaheim resident – Grateful Hearts

Darren Deutsch – Long Beach resident – Los Alamitos High School

Valerio Guercio – Los Alamitos resident – Casa Youth Shelter

Julia Dillenbeck – Huntington Beach resident – Village Bible Academy Leo Club

Rebecca Gomez – Seal Beach resident – Seal Beach Leo Club

Rory Lowdermilk – Long Beach resident – Girl Scouts

Rosslyn Lyell – Bellflower resident – LAVP and Girl Scouts

Hallie Alcantar – Seal Beach resident – Be the Good

Cheryl Godbee – Cerritos resident – The Youth Center Leo’s Club

Madison Godbee – Cerritos resident – The Youth Center Leo’s Club

The nominees were honored by Los Alamitos Mayor Kusumoto, Bellflower Mayor Santa Ines, Los Alamitos City Councilman Richard Murphy, representative Ryan Billings from Assemblyman Tyler Diep’s office, Rossmoor Community Services District President Joe Mendoza and RCSD Board Member Bill Kahlert, Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President Karen Kuns, Los Alamitos Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Dawnette Palmore, LAUSD Board of Education member Karen Russell and Andrew Pulver with LAUSD, Los Alamitos High School Principal Gregg Stone, and The Youth Center’s Board of Directors.

The Youth Center awarded Stellar Volunteers Darren Deutsch, Rory Lowdermilk, and Rebecca Gomez with a $500 scholarship and Viviana Ramirez was awarded a $500 scholarship from the Rotary Club of Los Alamitos for her “Courage in Volunteering.”

For more information about The Youth Center, visit www.theyouthcenter.org.

Laurie Hanson is Community Relations and Volunteer/Intern coordinator for the Youth Center.