CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Courtne Dotson, 17, gives thanks after receiving the 'Youth of The Year' award during the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica 41st Annual Awards Banquet at the Olympic Collection Banquet and Conference Center on Saturday, February 7, 2009. She won a $4000.00 scholarship for her hard work.  Dotson, has been a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica for 12 years, takes a bus from school and then home each day just to get to the Club, has taken on several leadership roles at the Club in addition to helping her single mother in running the household and has become an essential role model to countless other Club members, peers and even supervisors.

Youth of the Year is a national Boys & Girls Club program and is the highest honor a Club member can receive. Winners embody service, leadership and character and have achieved personal and academic success despite great challenges.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica serves children from all backgrounds, regardless of economic circumstances. The main focus of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica is to provide positive activities for youth ages 7-18 from the Santa Monica and surrounding communities during the hours they are not in school. There goal is to provide a chance for every child to feel – a sense of competence, a sense of usefulness, a sense of belonging and a sense of influence.

The Club offers a variety of programs in the following areas – arts, athletics, education, leadership development and career preparation, social recreation, skateboarding and rollerblading, and technology. Each department is led by trained youth development professionals. Programs are offered in a variety of formats including drop-in activities, special group clubs, sports leagues, specialized classes and ongoing instruction. Our programs are designed to help members develop socially, succeed in school, stay physically active and prepare for positive futures.

The Mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica is to enable all young people  to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

(top) Santa Monica's Police Chief Timothy J. Jackman (left) and Fire Chief Jim Hone go head-to-head during the Thirteenth Annual "SuperBowl-A-Thon" at AMF Bay Shore Lanes on Friday, Feb. 6, 2009. Chief Hone won the chiefs challenge with a score of 140 to a close 135, but the SMPD beat the SMFD with an overall score of 691 to 594. (center) In a  tradition dating back to the 1917 Opening Day Ceremonies of the Santa Monica Bowling Alleys on the Pier, Santa Monica Fire Chief Hone (right) receives the first place trophy while Santa Monica Police Chief Jackman gets a bottle of Ketchup. (above) Santa Monica Kiwanis President Patty Loggins returns her shoes during the Bowl-A-Thon, her score was 122. Nearly 500 bowlers on teams representing various businesses, social service agencies and local government participated in the SuperBowl-A-Thon bringing together the private and public sector in an effort to eradicate homelessness in Santa Monica and transform the community. It benefits the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition’s efforts to strengthen services to homeless and at-risk, men, women and families through education, advocacy and service coordination.

Suzanne Teng and the Mystic Journey perform pan-global instrumental music at the Santa Monica Farmers market on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

A woman looks at the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, the most famous of all product-shaped promotional vehicles, at the Santa Monica Pier parking lot on Wednesday, February 4, 2009. Drivers of the Wienermobiles are known as Hotdoggers and often hand out toy whistles shaped as replicas of the Wienermobile, known as Wienerwhistles. There are seven wienermobiles in existence currently, with each assigned a part of the country. The hotdogger position of driving the wienermobile is an open position to U.S. citzens and the duration of the job lasts for one full year: from the first of June until the following first of June. Every March at Kraft and Oscar Mayer headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin there are final round interviews held for the hotdogger position. Each vehicle holds two hotdoggers, and twelve people are chosen from a final pool of 30 candidates brought to Oscar Mayer headquarters. The 30 candidates are screened across the country. Both current hotdoggers and Oscar Mayer recruiters visit college campuses across the country in search of the next round of hotdoggers. Only college seniors who are about to graduate are eligible for applying to this hotdogger position. Currently there are about 500 hotdogger alumni who have served as hotdoggers and driven the wienermobile.

Albert Suavez, 47, who hails from Puerto Rico, attracts customers to Titanic clothing store at the Venice Beach Boardwalk on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

(1) Will Rogers Elementary School Third-grader, Fiona O'Callahan, 8, reads her letter to president Barack Obama while being filmed by CNN on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. "I have been thinking about pollution and since I love going to the beach I wanted you to help stop it." she said. The segment, titled "Dear Mr. President," airs weekdays on "No Bias, No Bull," anchored by Campbell Brown on CNN. (2) Third-grader Dean Carr, 8, reads his letter to President Obama, "You should tell all the rich people to give the poor people money."  (3) Ryan Rooke, 9, (left) and Pablo Cosio, 9, show their hand written letters. (4) CNN Senior Photographer shows Will Rogers Elementary School's third grade students their videos.

(1) Owner of Simple. Clean. Food. Plan., Michelle Renee Gentilly prepares gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, and dairy free meals on Tuesday, January 27, 2009. (2) Gentilly and Chef Kim Sanchez prepare Zucchini Linguini. Simple Clean Food Plan Meal Delivery prices range from $45 to $65 a day and consists of six small meals. For more information on Clean Simple Food Plan call 1-888-MG FOOD4 (888-643-6634)

Rosane Alvarez, owner of Star Photo, positions a life-size cutout of Vin Diesel for her customer at the Santa Monica Pier on Friday, January 30, 2009. Polaroid photos with a star are $6.00 each.