Background
Yungst was born in Israel to parents who were survivors of The Holocaust.
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Hela Yungst
Edit ProfileTelevision entertainer Lottery hostess
Education
She was raised in Hillside, New Jersey and graduated from Hillside High School in 1967, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She graduated from Newark State College (now Kean University) with a Bachelor of Arts in music education and theatre.
Career
She was a promoter of Holocaust awareness and a former president of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. The family moved to the United States in 1956 where she first lived in Newark, New Jersey. The Women"s Liberation Front demonstrated at the event.
Yungst was not a finalist, however, losing to Mission Texas 1970, Phyllis George.
In August 1971, Yungst traveled to Vietnam with George, Mission Nevada 1970, Vicky Jo Todd, Mission New Jersey 1970, Cheryl Browne, Mission Iowa 1970, Karen Shields, Mission Arkansas 1970, Donna Connelly, and Mission Texas 1970 (George"s replacement), Belinda Myrick. They participated in a 22 day United Service Organizations tour for American troops there.
The tour began in Saigon. Yungst was a performer on stage and in films, television commercials and soap operas, appearing in Guiding Light and All My Children.
She changed her name to Hela Young and became the New Jersey Lottery hostess on television, picking the nightly winning numbers for some 24 years.
She left television in November 2001 due to illness. The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education presents "The Hela Young Award" each year "to honor a person in recognition of outstanding work in the community for the improvement of human relations among diverse peoples and for the improvement of the human condition.".
