Mike Madali dropped out of high school to hang out with friends, smoke weed and drink.

It didn't take long, however, for the boys he would meet at “;the wall”; on King Street to abandon gang life or land in prison because of it.

So Madali put aside his cocky attitude and turned to a social worker who had persisted in offering him help since he was a troublemaker in middle school.

The 24-year-old - who has since earned an alternative diploma, a college scholarship and, most important, another chance to succeed - will be honored tomorrow as the 2008 Young Person of the Year during Adult Friends for Youth's annual Celebration of Youth Fundraiser. He will share the award with Jerome Abayon, a former gang member from Waipahu who also got counseling from the group and is now in the Air Force.

Proceeds from the fundraiser - auctioning items such as Natasha Kai's U.S. soccer team jersey and a dinner with former University of Hawaii star quarterback Colt Brennan - will help Adult Friends for Youth serve disadvantaged youth. The nonprofit group works with more than 300 children on any given week. Employees, who build relationships with gang members, are on call 24/7.

The organization's president, Debbie Spencer-Chun, remembers meeting Madali when he was in seventh grade at Kalakaua Middle School.

“;Gang life took precedent for him,”; she said. “;He would walk out of his door, when he was a small kid, and everything around him was drugs, gangs.”;

By eighth grade Madali, who grew up in Kalihi, started making beer runs for gang members, carrying a knife and a bottle of booze to campus.

The lifestyle prevented him from completing his freshman year of high school. Each morning, he would leave his grandmother's home early as if on his way to classes but take a detour and spend the day at a spot that became known as “;the wall”; on King Street fronting the Kalihi Palama Health Center. Madali's father eventually found out and put his son to work with him laying tiles.

That's when things began to change.

When Madali later got a job at California Pizza Kitchen, his co-workers complained he smelled like cigarettes, so he quit.

One day, Spencer-Chun called Madali and asked if he was still interested in getting a diploma. During a budget project, Madali, who would sometimes come to class drunk from a night of partying, realized his paycheck was being wasted on alcohol. So he cut back.

“;It was a real eye-opener for Michael,”; Spencer-Chun said.

Studying also led Madali to pull out of gang life.

“;We still hang out, but we don't call ourselves a gang,”; Madali said about his high school friends. “;We are just friends, all boys, yeah? We don't go out to look for trouble now.”;

Madali is saving money to try college for a second time. When he got a scholarship to attend Honolulu Community College, he left after the second semester because he flunked algebra.

“;A good education is like a good job. Getting a good report card is like getting a big check,”; Madali says about his intent to pick up a college degree. “;A bad report card is like getting paid minimum wage.”;