YES AWARD
In 2019, the Canopy Housing Foundation instituted the YES Award to recognize and celebrate the area’s youth who are engaged in improving the quality of life in the region.
Young people who are engaged in service mature into adults who serve the community. This award was established to encourage youth to address a broad spectrum of needs in an effort to build a stronger community. This program has donated $2500 to the recipient’s designated non profit since inception.
If you know a young person aged 10-18 who is actively engaged in improving our community, please nominate them for the Youth Excellence in Service Award.
Meet the 2023 YES Award winner
It is our hope that all young people will realize their potential to impact the lives of others and, in return, find fulfillment in their own lives.
ZaNia Stinson (l), pictured with Canopy Realtor® Association President Tiffany Johannes (r).
ZaNia Stinson
Almost eight years ago, at the age of nine, she encountered a woman and her two children begging for food in front of a local grocery store. She gave the woman five dollars and watched as the lady cried upon receiving the funds – the woman was so touched that a child would stop and help while many adults had passed her by.
After that encounter, ZaNia knew that she had to make a difference, and that was when she created her nonprofit, Z Feeds Angel Food Project.
ZaNia’s story
ZaNia was all too familiar with these issues because she remembered clearly the feeling of being hungry and in a homeless shelter. Her early life was spent in the battered women’s shelter with her biological grandmother. She then lived with a foster family before moving back to the shelter. Today, her foster family has become her forever family by virtue of them adopting her. They now work as a family to advance ZaNia’s desire to give back.
Through her nonprofit’s mission, she has solicited funds, gone shopping for food and toiletries, and organized various groups to contribute countless hours to further her work. She developed the concept of ‘Go-Go Bags’ — gallon bags filled with food, drinks, toiletries and lots of love that she has distributed to the homeless. More than 2,150 food bags and more than 600 toiletry bags have been distributed by more than 500 volunteers. One of the most important items in each bag are words of encouragement — because ZaNia wants everyone to believe: ‘life can and will get better.’
She has been widely recognized for her efforts, including:
• Commendations from the local Salvation Army Center of Hope
• Recognition by the Drew Barrymore show
• Featured in the national Woman’s World magazine
• Receiving a national award from Omaha Steaks
• Chosen to participate in the Disney Dreamers Academy
• Receiving one of the ‘Points of Light’ awards
• Recognition from the NAACP
• Named a Top 20 finalist for Nickelodeon
• Awarded TIME magazine’s ‘Kid of the Year’
And, among other honors, she was recognized as a top volunteer in the state by North Carolina’s Spirit of Community Award. Despite her many accolades, ZaNia’s overall mission is to continue to do more. Her long-term goal is to leverage more people to pack and distribute the ‘Go-Go Bags’ until they change the world — one bag at a time. In her spare time, she hopes to study to become a dermatologist. In her honor, the Canopy Housing Foundation will be donating $500 to Z Feeds Angel Food Project.
Who/What:
Youth ages 10-18 are eligible.
When:
The recipient is recognized at the Grant Awards presentation.
Where:
The recipient receives the award at the Foundation’s annual Grant Awards presentation and/or at the recipient’s school assembly.
The Award:
The chosen recipient receives a commemorative plaque and $500 to be donated to the charity of their choice in their name.
The 2022 YES Award recipient was Brandon Wilson. Brandon has been featured on WBTV by Molly Grantham and was featured in a special article in Atrium Health’s newsletter Momentum in June. To learn more about Brandon’s non-profit, go to: facebook/BeemerInc.com.
Brandon came up with the idea of creating a non-profit business and donating the money to charity. Thus, Beemer Inc came into existence.
As of May 5, Brandon had raised $1,567.60 from selling wristbands and coffee mugs; those funds have now been donated to the Child Life Department. He exceeded his initial goal of $500 in just five months and has since raised an additional $1,000.
The 2021 YES Award recipient was Anirudh Sengupta, a 6th grader at Community House Middle School. In addition to maintaining a straight A average in all classes, Anirudh and his sister created Xcelerate NC, an organization that aims to help young children in grades K-5 excel in public speaking and math.
He has also partnered with a non-profit organization in Tanzania, www.help2kids.org, that runs children’s home for underprivileged students.
The 2020 YES Award recipient was 16-year old Alexa Nicole Suarez, who founded the HILL Project, which stands for Hispanic Initiative for Literacy and Learning. The HILL Project’s main goal has been to increase the literacy rate and reduce the high school dropout rate in the Latino community.
The 2019 YES Award recipients were sisters Mykia (age 17) and Zarriah (age 15) White, who created the Turning Point Teen Club at their high school to promote and educate young people on teen dating abuse and the value of healthy relationships.
