BAYC Graduate Honored

Earlier this month, BAYC graduate Tia Tonne was selected by the San Francisco 49ers to receive a prestigious Community Quarterback Award. This honor is given out to five people each year who have devoted their time to volunteering in the Bay Area, and includes a grant for the charity where they volunteer.

Tia’s own experience as a graduate of BAYC’s programs makes her an especially insightful and helpful volunteer for the kids and young adults we serve, and we are delighted and so proud of her for receiving this recognition of all the hard work that she is doing. Josh Leonard, Executive Director of BAYC, nominated Tia in part because she is such a positive and relatable role model for the other young people in the program. “This is someone who has been where they are, and who can really relate to them on a peer level, but also someone who has made it past what they are facing, and so they can look to her as an example of success while at the same time seeing themselves really reflected in her. It is part of what makes her work so critically important in our programs.”

Tia and the other award winners were celebrated and recognized at an event in their honor. “All these people here have given back so much to the Bay Area and it is nice to give them the recognition they deserve,” said former 49ers quarterback Steve Bono, who hosted the celebratory luncheon held at Kingfish Restaurant in San Mateo. “It is neat to meet people who are so selfless and have impacted others in such a positive way.”

For more information about the Community Quarterback Awards and this year’s beneficiaries, click here. Congratulations to Tia and the other winners!