Lake City celebrates back-to-back-to-back regional Youth of the Year representatives.
Genesis Majors was named the 2025 Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area Youth of the Year during the annual Steak-N-Burger Dinner on Tuesday, March 4, at First Presbyterian Church. The honor came with a $4,000 scholarship from the Carraway Turner Leadership Fund and a $250 gift card to Hibbett.
When Genesis came to the Club eight years ago, she was a shy, unsure kid living in a neighborhood where opportunities felt limited, and her future seemed uncertain.
“For the first time, I felt like I had found a space where I could belong,” she says. “I discovered that I had a voice.”
Describing herself as an intelligent, brave overcomer, the J. Paul Truluck Creative & Science Magnet School student says she wasn’t sure if she could ever afford to go to college. The Boys & Girls Club’s college and career readiness program along with supportive staff members helped her navigate the application process and encouraged her to apply for scholarships.
The scholarship from the Carraway Turner Leadership Fund will help propel her even further. She plans to attend Francis Marion University to become a nurse practitioner and athletic trainer.
“[The Boys & Girls Club] helped me see that I have the power to create the future I want,” Genesis says.
She also enjoys dance, photography, and softball, and participates in Dramatic Coffee Beans as president and in the choir at East Lake City Holiness Church.
“For the third 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 Aiden Green of Hartsville received a $1,000 scholarship. The seventh-grade student at LOL Steam School of the Arts and eight-year Club member wants to become an entrepreneur and rapper.
“The Club is a place where everyone matters… it’s like a second home,” he says.
His favorite activities at the Club include The Torch Club, where he serves as president, and the drone class. He enjoys planning projects in the community and says his family and church keep him grounded.
“I want to make the most of every opportunity.”
