Rebekah Hammond

In 2005, Rebekah Hammond was asked to serve a two-year term on the YMCA of the Suncoast Board of Directors as the Youth Representative. Rebekah as done an outstanding job as a member of the Board of Directors, which provides direction and oversight for programs, services and facilities in Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties, operating with an approximately $28 million budget. In 2002, Rebekah began participating in the Florida YMCA Youth in Government Program. The entire year-long program cumulates with a three-day trip to the State Capital in Tallahassee for participants to experience the lawmaking process first-hand. In January 2006 at the state conference, Rebekah was elected by nearly 600 of her peers to lead the Florida YMCA Youth in Government program as their governor during the 2006 and 2007 school years.

In 2005 and 2006, while Rebekah served as co-chair of both the Service Youth Engagement Project and Social Youth Presiding Officer for two terms, she helped develop and direct the Fall District Assembly all for the YMCA Florida Youth in Government Program. During the summer, Rebekah presided over the creation and development of a curriculum for a Statewide Middle School Youth in Government Program. The program's founding came out of the goal of the State Presiding Officers to further civic and service education to younger students, as well as to foster awareness and a sense of duty to service.

Rebekah also has volunteered more than 95 hours from 2004 through 2007 for the Dunedin Youth Volunteers (DYV) and is currently serving as the group's public relations officer. In addition, Rebekah worked with the Dunedin Public Library as a youth volunteer and has mentored youths from low-income communities. Rebekah has been a member of Clearwater High School's Student Government Association for all four years of high school and has logged approximately 200 hours. Rebekah serves as the chair of the National Honor Society’s Peer Tutoring.

Rebekah also has served as the Executive Director of “The March for Miracles,” a project she designed and coordinated. The inaugural March for Miracles 2006 was created out of a plan of the Pinellas County Student Government Association for a multi-school, community service project. With Access Pinellas (the Pinellas County Public Access Television Station), Rebekah has served as an Intern for more than 40 hours, developing script writing, reporting and producing skills. She has helped produce several programs documenting community outreach programs, such as the Hispanic Outreach Center of the YWCA and YMCA Youth in Government Programs.