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by Airman 1st Class Scott Saldukas
435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Some 4.8 million boys and girls serve in 4,300 club locations all over the United States with the Boys & Girls Club of America when, every year, the club holds numerous competitions at the local, state, regional and national level to crown one person the National Youth of the Year.
Demetrice Tuttle, who won the 2007-2008 National Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, grew up in Chicago and then moved to LaGrange, Ga., where he first participated in the Boys & Girls Club which put him on a path to help others.
For only being a sophomore in college, Demetrice has a laundry list of accomplishments and has reached out to more people than many people can in a lifetime.
“I have spoken at numerous events for the Boys & Girls Club of America, from an event in front of Congress to a National Golf Tournament at the site of the 2008 U.S. Open,” he said.
Demetrice began attending the Boys & Girls Club at the age of 11 and has remained there ever since. With great support from everyone involved, he came to recognize the need in his community and around the world for leadership, especially among youth.
“I wanted to be able to touch many lives and inspire others by being an inspiration,” he said.
Currently, Demetrice is on an eight-week visit to Ramstein and Vogelweh teen centers.
“The military is continuing their service of providing a sense of belonging and continuity for their military youth by giving the youth a name they can be associated with and a new phrase they can take pride in: ‘I am a REAL Teen,’” he said.
The product, a teen talk show entitled ‘REAL to Reel’ with informative commercials will be displayed on AFN. The show was taped live at the Ramstein Teen Center Aug. 2.
“I hear phenomenal stories of overcoming tremendous obstacles in my work and see great relationships between youth and staff every moment,” he said. “I believe it is our job, as people put in a position to do great things, to put other’s issues at the forefront of modern discussion and serve and help people the best way we can: by being ourselves.”
To inspire others, especially officials in positions of power, to implement programs and laws that will benefit the public and raise public awareness, said Demetrice as the goals he has for the future. He also said that he would love to return to Ramstein sometime in 2009 to see the continuation of this program and how much it has developed along with more speaking opportunities to raise the awareness of the programs.
Being a young adult and having an influence on more people than some do in a lifetime is what Demetrice takes pride in doing. Being a mentor and a public voice for the largest youth organization in the nation it only seems correct for him to be awarded the National Youth of the Year.
“I believe the judges recognized my passion for youth and the need to bring a lot of their issues to the forefront,” he said.
