Coral Gables High School senior Luchiano Montero cares about others.
Three years ago he and some friends started a charity to help the people of Haiti. They did this even before Hurricane Matthew devastated the country a few weeks ago.
“We collected canned foods. We went to two other clubs that also played at Crandon Park,” Montero said. “They came in every Friday and they brought canned food.”
The boys all played club volleyball — he’s been playing since he was age 6 — and they started collecting when they saw what was happening in Haiti.
“They needed help. We thought it would be nice for us to help them out,” he said. “We do it 365 days of the year.”
They usually send the food in December.
At Gables, Montero is a member of Gables Players, Gables Earth, Key Club and Italian Club. He also is in the Health Information Project, president of the Italian Club, Gay Straight Alliance, and Future Business Leaders of American.
He has had a difficult life. Because of issues with his parents, he has been raised by his paternal grandparents and an uncle. He is one of 13 children.
“I’m going to be the first one to graduate high school,” Montero said. “I’ve been the only one who has tried to do things.”
Montero said his grandparents sacrificed everything to come to the U.S. from Cuba and his grandmother is his inspiration.
The death of one of his brothers in 2014 shook him.
“At the time, I wasn’t a bad student, but I wasn’t a great student,” he said.
The accident that killed his brother, his brother’s girlfriend and two children, made him realize that life is short and that he needed to get things together.
“The next year I had straight As,” he said. “It was a change for me.”
In college he wants to major in architecture and minor in interior design. He’s considering NYU, Columbia, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Ryder College, Emmanuel College, Boston College and Boston University.
— Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
