STAR OF QUEENS

David Gordon COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Last summer, 17-year-old Elmhurst resident Mario Hernandez was supposed to work in a local politician’s office. “I’m not the type of person to sit and do paperwork while watching the clock,” he said. Instead, the Flushing High School student got a job as a counselor in training at a summer camp. That’s when Kendall Charter, director of the YMCA’s youth and family programs, informed him that there were youth programs going on at the Long Island City branch.