 A Bemidji man was recognized in the Twin Cities over the weekend as an outstanding young Minnesotan. Josh Peterson shares with us why he was one of six Minnesotans selected for this honor. Over the past 61 years, ten outstanding young Minnesotans, also known as Toyum, has recognized the leadership of more than 550 young Minnesotans who have devoted themselves to improving their community. Saturday night, six new members were inducted into the ranks alongside people like Dave Winfield and Walter Mondale. But Toyum is part of a much larger class of honorees. Minnesota has gone through the process of identifying who the outstanding young leaders are in Minnesota. They have narrowed it down to six finalists. Joining the Toyum class of 2017 is William Benzo, who served as a United States Marine and then later became an advocate for veterans by launching a support group for combat veterans and raising awareness for the 22 veterans who are lost each day to suicide. William says he is honored and humble about the award. I've been very, very blessed over the years to kind of fall into the right circumstance at the right time. Benzo was nominated for the state's top honor by the Bemidji JCs, who felt that his hard work and dedication to area veterans has already made a huge difference in a short amount of time. William Benzo was nominated because of his extensive work with veterans. He's put in a lot of time and a lot of hours in recognizing what their needs are and bringing a program to the community to work directly with them. While receiving this award is a top honor, William Benzo says there's still plenty of work that needs to be done when it comes to veterans affairs. You know, maybe it's not one family, maybe it's a handful of, you know what I mean? So it's really about spreading the word, you know, having a recognition for veterans in the Belchamie County area, you know, even further for that matter. With the recognition that comes with the toyam honor, the hope is that the award will shine a light on the growing needs for our veterans. In Bloomington, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. William Benzo is continuing his work on the 22-a-day march around Lake Bemidji, which is scheduled to be held on June 14th in 2018. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.