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Westminster Christian School senior Emelie Monterrey started the Blessed Love Share community service project in tenth grade. She researched the needs of the impoverished local community and put together campaigns to address those needs.
The first four campaigns included a collection drive of hygiene products that were distributed to newly arrived Haitian immigrants. With the help of fellow students, she collected and donated back-to-school supplies, and backpacks to the children of migrant workers.
“Also, for the migrant community, last year, I did a collection of toys around Christmas time,” she says.
They didn’t collect toys for Christmas this year. They plan to do something in March, which will be the fifth campaign.
When asked why she started Blessed Love Share, she says she realized it’s important to her to give back to the community.
“I see how much I have and how much people around me have. And how little other people have,” she says.
Monterrey also started a Key Club at Westminster and is the current president.
This month, Monterrey planned to go to the Dominican Republic on the Smiles4All mission trip where they visit an orphanage and bring supplies. This is her third mission trip to the orphanage.
She’s president of the school club tied to the Lucy Fernandez Foundation bLU Crew Club.
The foundation was started two years ago after Lucy Fernandez was killed in a boating accident.
“It helps with boater awareness. We are trying to get everyone to get their boater safety license.”
The club sponsored a day where the US Coast Guard taught a Boating Safety course. Those that attended earned the boating safety card. Students were also given a link to the course if they couldn’t come in person.
“With the club we do things to spread the love and the light of Lucy. We do a fundraising soccer game between Westminster and Columbus,” she says.
“We also make and sell sweatshirts, and all the proceeds go the Lucy Foundation and the Katy Strong Foundation. She’s the girl injured in the accident and had a traumatic brain injury,” she says.
The cause is important to Monterrey as her sister was onboard the boat but thankfully was not injured in the fatal accident.
She’s also involved with the Abuelo’s Foundation.
“We made Christmas ornaments for the Abuelo’s Foundation, around 100-200 ornaments,” she says.
The ornaments were distributed to the abuelos and abuelas at their homes.
Monterrey has been in W student leadership throughout high school, planning major activities such as Warrior Week and prom.
She’s in the Emerald Scholars Biomedical Program at WCS.
“It helps prepare us to go into what I want to go into, which is medicine,” she says. “I want to be a doctor.”
This past summer she completed an internship at Derm 360 Pediatric Dermatology.
“I had internships with them every summer since freshman year,” she says.
She also participated in a research project that investigated the best treatment of warts in children.
She’s a vice president of the junior class for the National Honor Society, a member of the National English Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Rho Kappa, the National Art Honor Society, the Dance National Honor Society and the World Languages Honor Society.
She dances on a competitive team at the SJ Dance Company and is a member of the WCS dance team, the Warriorettes.
She is Westminster’s Silver Knight nominee for Music and Dance. She’s received the Advanced Placement Scholar Award and Hispanic National Recognition from the College Board. She’s also received the Westminster Leadership Award, the Presidential Service Award and the Varsity Dance Choreography Award.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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