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Andres Jose Paredes, a Palmetto Bay resident and a junior at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, is an honor roll student and a third-year varsity football player. He has been an active member in the National Math, Science and Social Studies Honor Society.
But besides focusing on his studies and sports activities Paredes has made it his mission to help other students who are experiencing hardships. He is the founder and president of “Project Lend A Hand.”
“Project Lend a Hand originated in the spring of 2020 from a desire to help Miami-Dade students who are battling homelessness, are underserved or experiencing other hardships while attending school,” Paredes said. “We provide everyday necessities through a classroom which we converted into a ‘pantry’ at Miami Southridge Senior High where food, toiletries, uniforms, clothing, shoes and school supplies are available year-round as well as gift cards for food establishments for warm meals at nights and weekends.”
Paredes’ project also works to make sure special school moments are commemorated — such as graduations, honor roll ceremonies, holidays and, at the high school level, homecomings, ring ceremonies, proms and senior events. They also help student-athletes receive proper nutrition through their initiative “Energy Snack Packs” before practices and games and by providing adequately sized shoes/cleats and equipment. The project is an official “Community Partner” at Southridge High.
“Our goal is helping the students break the cycle of homelessness and poverty and help them reach their full potential as individuals and as members of our community,” Paredes said. “For the students, we aim at having them all graduate high school and attend college, where we continue to support them.
“My next mission is to convert a classroom in every Miami Dade county school into a pantry, so all underserved students have a place to ‘shop’ and get what they need,” he added.
Even the COVID pandemic didn’t stop his efforts. Helping students continued as drives for much needed food and supplies changed to “drop off collection drives” and spreading the word of food distribution events.
“With the start of the 2021-22 school year, we expanded and are now assisting elementary school students through the ‘Big Brother, Little Ram’ program at Pine Villa Elementary where we encourage reading through book donations, celebrate the holidays and encourage wellness and exercise through field days,” Paredes said. “We also organized a Back-to-School event where students were presented with a backpack full of age appropriate school supplies and teachers were presented with cleaning supplies and other items for their classrooms.”
He began the “Bring Them Back” initiative where families that travel bring back hotel toiletries. They are collected and toiletry packs are made which are dropped off at the pantry in Southridge or the community fridges.
Paredes’ efforts were honored by the Village of Palmetto Bay in November 2021 with the
“Pay It Forward Award” and received a proclamation on Nov. 7, 2022, with the month being declared “Homeless Youth Awareness Month” in his honor.
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