Jessica Wagner will go down in the history books as one of 15 young people who raised more than $42,000 to help Toowoomba youth.

The 2009 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Young Ambassador will soon hand over the reins to another worthy young man or woman, but will never forget the experience of the past year.

Nominations are now open for men and women aged between 18 and 28 wanting to gain personal and professional development through the Young Ambassador Program.

“Joining the program was a fantastic opportunity for me to get out in Toowoomba and give something back to a community that had given so much to me,” Miss Wagner said.

“The rewarding networking opportunities, lifelong friends and personal growth are just some of the reasons I gained so much from the experience.

“The program was extremely well set out and the workshops were both interesting and informative, with each session I learnt more about my community, myself and gained the confidence I needed to represent Toowoomba as the 2009 Young Ambassador.”

This year, the community committee running the Young Ambassador Program is organising training worth thousands of dollars to enhance entrants’ careers and individual self-esteem.

Beneficiaries of the fundraising efforts of entrants are the Kath Dickson Centre and Toowoomba Hospice.

Kath Dickson Centre runs multiple programs that assist young people in crisis throughout the Toowoomba region and has is dedicated to empowering young people through skills development for individuals as well as having a focus on whole-of-community well-being.

Toowoomba Hospice has cared for terminally ill people as young as three years old and will be focusing on how it can make young people more comfortable within the six-bed facility.

Nominations are open until February 26 and applications can be downloaded from the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers website from next week or picked up at the Downs Business Centre in Little Street.

“Being an ambassador was not only fun but the skills and abilities I learnt from the other entrants, committee members and the local community will stay with me for life, I would highly recommend this program to any young people who want to give something different a go and raise money for charity at the same time,” Miss Wagner said.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers runs from September 17 to 26 this year with the street parade on September 18 and the Flower, Food and Wine festival running over the weekend of September 17-19.

The theme for this year’s event is It’s On Again in 2010 and with new water use guidelines, the Garden City is set to shine throughout the event.