FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "It's really hard to pick a winner. Each of these nominees every year is a success story in its own right."
Stephanie Negin is on the dinner committee for the Fresno Chapter of B'nai B'rith, something her grandfather, Irvin Negin, helped find back in 1952.
"They started it as an idea of brotherhood, as an idea of bringing the different communities together," she said.
The 'it' is the annual student-athlete award that started with students from Fresno, Edison, Roosevelt and San Joaquin Memorial High School.
It has now grown to include 16 different schools that draw students from the city of Fresno.
Last year's winner, Brock Jones, is just the latest in a long line of accomplished student-athletes. Some have been featured here for their work on the field or in the community.
Names like CJ Albertson, Jenna Prandini, Chris Patrick, Jaime White and Tim McDonald come to mind.
"Each one of these nominees is really a leader in our community," Negin said.
Which is why it made sense to partner those future leaders with current leaders at an annual luncheon.
"It's this great opportunity for these leaders to be motivated by the future of Fresno and vice versa," Negin said.
This year, those in-person meetings are moving online and the dinner that typically brought in 500 people was canceled due to COVID-19.
"We've done a lot of zoom meetings in terms of how we're going to be able to do this," Negin said.
They've also partnered with us in sharing some of these senior stories. Last month we shared the story of Buchanan's Corie Smith.
We'll be sharing more in the coming two weeks as B'nai B'rith gets closer to announcing its latest winner.
"It's just a great legacy that they have left behind to bring the communities together to honor the future of Fresno," Negin said.
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