Youth Honoree Trevor Khouzami (Baltimore City)

Trevor Khouzami, a junior at Gilman School in Baltimore, is dedicated to “leveling the playing field in his city and addressing economic and social inequity.”  He was selected for the Governor’s Service Award in the youth category for his work raising funds to support after-school programs in Baltimore city public high schools and to address food insecurity in underserved communities, as well as his work in making a positive impact in the lives of elementary school-aged children.

In 2016, when Trevor was 12 years old, he founded the RPBL Fall Classic, an annual wiffle ball tournament supported by his little league, Roland Park Baseball Leagues.  Trevor was inspired to do something after meeting Michael Rosenband (the baseball coach at Carver Vo-Tech in west Baltimore) and learning about the challenges his program faced.  To date, the tournament has raised over $34,000 to support baseball and softball programs at Carver Vo-Tech and also now at Patterson High School.  This has enabled each school to build a batting cage and has provided vital funds for new equipment, uniforms, and other program needs, such as a recognition banquet for players.  Trevor has spent over 500 hours organizing and promoting the annual event and hundreds of kids have played in the tournament.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Trevor did not let this stop him- he adapted and found ways to continue these efforts virtually to help his community.  Seeing that food insecurity was a pressing concern in Baltimore, Trevor organized a virtual video game tournament in May and again in November.  The 2020 online tournaments included 152 kids and raised an additional $8,000 to fund 10 truckloads of food, each containing approximately 350 boxes of healthy food to feed families in underserved communities in and around Baltimore City.

Trevor also volunteers to make positive impacts on the lives of elementary school-aged children through Bridges Baltimore, an organization that provides year-round support for Baltimore City students.  Trevor has volunteered over the summer and during the school year as a teacher’s aid, working with 4th and 5th graders.

Watch his Governor’s Service Awards acceptance video, here.