The Exchange Club of Greenville honored area youth at a banquet Tuesday night held at the Depot.

Christy Tanner, Greenville High School senior and valedictorian, was named the winner of the group’s essay contest.

Meaghan Till, a senior and valedictorian of Georgiana High School was the runner-up.

Both girls wrote essays on the topic of &uot;Why the Exchange Club is helpful to the Community?&uot;

Randy Beeson, Exchange Club president, said it was very difficult to pick a winner between the two essays.

&uot;I just thank God for the judges,&uot; said Beeson. &uot;The essays were both so wonderful and I don’t think that I could have made a choice between them.&uot;

The contest began with six entries from area schools and the pool was narrowed to two semi-finalists.

Exchange Club member Abbie Jackson presented the awards and praised both finalists for their efforts.

&uot;These young ladies both worked very hard on their papers and it shows,&uot; said Jackson. &uot;We are all very proud of them and wish them the best.&uot;

For Tanner, this is not the end. She will move on to the Exchange Clubs district contest in Mobile this June.

Winning this contest means a $1,000 cash award.

If Tanner is selected as a finalist at this competition she will move on to nationals.

Jackson said that she wishes Tanner the best of luck.

&uot;We hope that she will go up and up,&uot; said Jackson. &uot;Hopefully she will continue to do very well.&uot;

Tanner was honored to have won the award.

&uot;I was very happy to get such an honor,&uot; said Tanner. &uot;I just want to do the best that I can and hopefully move on.&uot;

For those who aren’t familiar with the Exchange Club of Greenville, it is a club dedicated to child abuse prevention.

The Greenville Exchange Club is committed to making a difference in the lives of children, families and communities through their many projects. The Exchange Club’s most successful method of countering abuse is by working directly with parents through the parent aide program

The club hopes that through their efforts they may greatly reduce the number of child abuse cases.