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Miami Palmetto High School senior Cameron Gussin collects baby food for medically fragile children. Her project is called Packages for PATCHES. The children cared for by PATCHES PPEC in Florida City are little ones who have rare medical conditions.
She and her family know what it is like to have a medically fragile child. Her brother was born with a rare disease and needed 24-hour care. He’s okay now, but when they learned about the organization, they quickly collected materials to donate. When the baby food shortage happened, she created her project.
“The main age range is two to five,” she says. “They really need baby food to help.”
Gussin says the children are in a safe environment while their parents work.
“Their families can’t take care of them constantly.”
She began the community service project two years ago.
“Certain teachers and clubs help me collect the baby food,” she says. “I’ve gotten over 500 donations each year.”
Packages for PATCHES is a family affair. When Gussin goes to college next year, her sister Andie will take over the collections.
“The first year I did it in the holiday season,” she says. “Last year I did in February. I go to clubs and put out donations bins and then I collect them.”
She’s been researching whether other schools wanted to donate to the project.
Gussin volunteers at Friendship Circle. This will be her fourth year in the Tween and Teen Scene program that takes place every other Sunday.
“Every year I’ve been there I’ve been assigned a different friend,” she says. “We do activities together and it’s a good way to bond and get to know each other well. I’m usually with the teens.
There’s always music and then it alternates between Zumba, karate and soccer.”
They also get creative with arts and crafts.
“I’m also on the President’s Council,” she says. “This year I was on the fundraising committee.”
Gussin is a member of Beth Am’s Social Justice Teen Fellowship. The teens meet once a month and discuss different issues, including issues such as gun safety. They learn about the tools to advocate for what they want.
“I learned how to write letters and create a PowerPoint to advocate for gun safety,” she says.
The members traveled to Guatemala for a service project.
“We helped build a school out of sustainable materials,” she says. “We helped start building their first science lab. All is built out of sustainable materials to help combat the trash problem that they have.”
In the week they were there, the teens learned how to make concrete out of sand and rock. She says the experience was very interesting and eye opening.
“The town doesn’t have trash collection and it was hurting their environment, and the kids weren’t getting an education,” she says. “They started the school. They were trying to fix their two main problems.”
At school she is the chief of senate of the student council. She’s on a History Bowl team, a member of the Social Science Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society.
Last year she was vice president of the National Honor Society and this year she’s copy editor of the yearbook.
Gussin is in the Health Information Project, teaching health information to freshmen.
She is on the Palmetto Tennis team that won the State Championship. She plays doubles.
Gussin’s college application list includes the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, Emory, Vanderbilt and Duke.
She hasn’t decided on her major yet, but she is leaning toward a career in health, possibly a pre-dental track.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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