Yana Shabanov, a member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue, received a $1,000 Qualstar Cooperative Spirit award during a statewide Youth of the Year competition in Seattle.

Yana was recognized as the candidate who best demonstrated what it means to give back to others. Her accomplishments included completing more than 660 hours of service through the Club’s leadership group Keystone, co-founding an anti-bullying campaign #owntheirwords (Instagram), and raising funds to support local charities.

“Keystone has played the biggest role in my life…The people inside of this program have given me a safe environment to share my life experiences. Keystone has given me so many opportunities…I can say with so much pride that Keystone has been the highlight of my life.” Yana shared in a speech given during last week’s event.

“Keystone is one of our signature programs”, said Kathy Haggart, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue. “It empowers Teens to make a difference in their local community; we are so pleased Yana was selected. Yana has grown up in our Clubs and we are so proud of her community engagement.”

“Credit Unions were founded on the principle of people helping people, and Qualstar is proud to put that tradition into practice by awarding our Cooperative Spirit Scholarship to a deserving club kid each year. Yana truly demonstrates what it means to give back to others unconditionally, and we know she will continue to make an impact in her community with her future accomplishments,” added Mark Nelson, CEO of Qualstar Credit Union

Yana is a senior at Sammamish High School. She represented Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue at the State Youth of the Year Competition. The Qualstar Cooperative Spirit Award will support Yana’s post-secondary plan to enroll in Bellevue College where she will pursue a degree in Clinical Social work with a primary focus on working with youth.