At its 93rd annual dinner and awards ceremony, the Gainesville Kiwanis Club honored the executive director of Centerpoint and a Chestatee High School student leader with its top awards.
David Smith wins Jacobs Youth Service Award
David Smith, who became executive director of Centerpoint in 1993 when the non-profit was known as the Christian Education Center, was honored as the recipient of the John W. Jacobs, Jr. Kiwanis Youth Service Award. The Jacobs Award is the highest honor given by the Gainesville Kiwanis Club, and the award is named after the late John W. Jacobs, Jr., a long-time Kiwanian and well-known North Georgia philanthropist.
In honoring Smith, club members noted that he has spent his entire life helping youth personally and professionally.
"Beginning even before he graduated from college he began mentoring children, and he has kept that up both formally and informally as he moved from jobs in Kentucky and Florida until he landed here in Gainesville in 1989 - and we have been lucky to have him," said Charles Kelley in the award presentation.
Kelley said Smith has spent his entire life serving young people.
"Centerpoint helps youth in several ways: it provides release time Christian education to high school students; it operates a family and youth crisis counseling service, and it provides substance abuse prevention, teen pregnancy prevention and mentoring programs for youth in our community - and our recipient oversees it all," Kelley stated. "But he is far more than an executive director. Our recipient probably spends as much or more time with the youth of this community as he does managing Centerpoint."
Smith also was recognized for his service to United Way, the American Cancer Society, the Hall County Drug Free Coalition and CASA.
Tess Mosley honored with Thompson Award
Kiwanians with the Gainesville club also present an award each year to the most outstanding Key Club member in Hall County. Tess Mosley, a senior at Chestatee High School was the recipient of the 2018 John C. Thompson Award. Thompson was a former Gainesville Kiwanian who served as a Key Club District Administrator, working with Kiwanis-sponsored youth clubs in the area.
Mosley, a third year officer with the Key Club at Chestatee, also served as an officer on the Georgia District Board. Mosley recently served at the Bulletin Editor for "The Key Ring," a publication distributed to every Key Club member in the state; the publication covers local, state and international Key Club news. In addition to her Key Club duties, Mosley is a dancer and actress who is active with the CHS theater troupe and she is a member of the CHS tennis team. Mosley also was honored recently by the Gainesville Kiwanis Club - along with other students from across the county - as a STAR student for having the highest SAT score at her school.
Along with the award, Mosley also received a $1,000 scholarship.
The annual banquet and awards ceremony was held March 20, 2018 at the Chattahoochee Country Club. Bill Maine of WDUN served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
