Anzania (Zaney) moved from to Manchester from New Jersey with her sister in 2007 after going from foster home to foster home. Living in fosters homes made her feel like she would never become “somebody.” Her grandmother adopted the girls and soon enrolled them in Girls Inc.
Her and her sister who were excited to attend Girls Inc. to do something “more”. They were involved in every program such as: Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Friendly PEERsuasion, and Economic Literacy. As part of the of the Young Women’s Leadership program, she began to feel like she was a young woman that could do anything she put her mind to. She had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C to speak with Senator Kelly Ayotte and Senator Jeanne Shaheen about the lives of young women in New Hampshire.
In 2009, a group of volunteers from Southern New Hampshire University came to Girls Inc. to help a small group of girls with activities the staff had planned. One of the volunteers wrote to President Barack Obama about her volunteer work. President Obama wrote to her and said, “Congratulations on receiving the President’s Volunteer Award and thank you for helping address the most pressing needs in our community and country.” She also received a pendent. She was honored for being recognized by the President for her work at Girls Inc. and made her realize that she can do great things and become someone regardless of the difficulties in her childhood.
She became ‘Girl of the Year’ in 2012 and later received the 2016/2017 Young Woman of the Year award from the Boys and Girls Club of Manchester and the Maxwell E. Duckoff Young Woman of the Year award. She was honored by the President and CEOof Primary Bank and with that received a Certificate of Deposit and threw out the first pitch at a NH Fisher Cats game.
She came back to Girls Inc. as a staff last summer because of the impact Girls Inc. had on her life as a young girl and is intent on making a difference in the lives of the young girls now attending Girls Inc. She wants to give back what was given to her.
She is graduating from high school this June and is planning on attending Southern New Hampshire University to study in Culinary Arts and Business Management. She hopes to own her own bakery and hire future Girls Inc. girls to volunteer, intern or work for her.