By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Maybe Kissimmee’s Ahkeem Hollimon can help President Barack Obama with this whole debt crisis mess.

That’s if the topic comes up when they meet in September, thanks to Hollimon’s role with the Boys & Girls Club.

Hollimon, 17, a recent graduate of Osceola High School, will be going to the U.S. Capitol as part of his nomination as the organization’s South Region Youth of the Year. Chosen out of a field of 10 in the region, he’ll be in Washington, D.C., competing for the title of National Youth of the Year.

The regional honor came with a $10,000 scholarship, which he intends to use at Valencia College and eventually the University of Central Florida. The national honor would come with an additional $50,000 in scholarship money.

“I knew I was going to college, but the scholarship makes me feel like I’ve earned my own way,” Hollimon said.

The Youth of the Year honor is the highest a Boys & Girls Club member can achieve, cele­brating those who have overcome long odds and demonstrate exceptional character and service to their club and community.

Hollimon was honored by his club, the Tupperware Brands Branch in Kissimmee, for his outstanding academic achievement, leadership, community service and moral character.

Gary Cain, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, attested to all of it, saying Hollimon has come a long way since he first walked through the club’s doors six years ago.

“Ahkeem’s a fabulous example of what we strive to do,” Cain said. “He came with some attitude, but over time, he’s grown through the years. When you treat them as individuals, encourage them and develop a relationship and give them an opportunity to have responsibility, these things can happen.”

Before becoming fully involved with the club, Hollimon was a product of his environment – but in this case it wasn’t a good thing. He was involved in gun play, and was paid to hold drugs for dealers.

“They’d give me $20 or $30, and I’d go right to the store and buy food for my family,” he said. “I’ve come to believe that guns and drugs are just stupid.”

With his grades floundering in his freshman year, the final straw was the fatal shooting of his older brother. Knowing that he wanted to leave a legacy that didn’t involve violence, he dove into making a difference at the club. His grades started improving, and he became a full-time staff member working with youth. Now he spends more than 40 hours a week at the club on Dyer Boulevard, after spending just about every evening there after school before his graduation.

In short, Hollimon said he was on the brink of being lost, and the club pulled him back.

“I wouldn’t have ever finished high school without the club. I tell people that I have a lot of moms, we’re like a family here,” he said. “I found hope and opportunity here. I like being a positive example and role model. Working with the kids makes me happy.

“It’s why I’m going to college. It’s why I have a life. It’s why I’m still here.”

At the club, he’s developed the Future Me program, designed to make sure that pre-teens in the 10 to 12 age range start making sound life decisions.

“That’s when things got bad for me,” he said. “I want to make sure they have help with school, passing the FCAT and are making the right decisions.”

Hollimon has identified a few future career paths. He said he intends on earning an engineering degree at UCF (the first in his family to earn a college degree), but also said he’d like to open a barbershop (he cuts hair on the side) to fulfill his business leaning.

But, his “dream job” would lead him right back to the club.

“I want to be the CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs. First maybe Central Florida, then national,” he said.

The only problem with that is it involves taking Cain’s job.

“We tell everyone who comes here to think big,” Cain said. “If he wants it, there’s nobody better to have it.”

If named national Youth of the Year, Hollimon would be asked to fulfill speaking engagements and represent the organization throughout the country.

“I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” he said.