When was five Federico Zalcberg and his family moved to the U.S. from Uruguay.
“My parents moved here so I could have a better future,” he says. They became citizens several years ago.
From the time he arrived, he tried to fit into American society as quickly as possible. He learned English and then he worked hard to lose his accent.
Now a rising senior at Palmetto High School, Zalcberg has learned to embrace his heritage.
“I went back, then I saw where I came from and to be proud of where I came from,” he says.
When he returned to Uruguay for a visit, he studied at a high school for two weeks and he learned about Ronald McDonald House. He came back from his visit determined to do something to help the people of the country.
“There are lots of very poor people who cannot afford basic necessities,” he says. “And there are a lot of children. This is where I can make a direct impact on things. The women can go there. They get a place to stay and a place where the baby can grow a little bit and they get supplies.”
He decided he wanted to help and has settled on a baby supply drive. He’s collecting everything for babies from clothing to diapers.
“For children to five years old,” he says. “It can be new or barely used. So all of next year we’ll have constant shipments to Uruguay.”
He’s already been in contact with Ronald McDonald House of Uruguay and the embassy. He’s arranged for shipping costs and has been dealing with customs.
“What I’m planning on doing,” he says. “There are a lot Uruguayan restaurants. I’ll put in boxes at the restaurants.”
His plan is to incorporate his baby supply drive into the community service opportunities for the clubs he’s involved in at Palmetto.
He’s a member of the National Honor Society, an officer in Mu Alpha Theta, and president of the Spanish honor society. He also competes for the Science Honor Society.
“I’ve done Envirothon on the regional level,” he says. “And the Astronaut Challenge at the regional and the state level.”
He also participated in the Chemathon at Barry University. The team came in second overall.
Zalcberg also competed in a physic competition called the Miami-Dade Build-It.
“It’s hands on physics,” he says. “They give you a prompt.”
He’s also participated in math competitions through Mu Alpha Theta.
Because of his love of math and science, he’s planning on majoring in mechanical engineering. He’d like to work to work in automotive engineering.
His college list including University of Michigan, Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Duke.
Outside of school, Zalcberg volunteers with Friendship Circle. Every Sunday, he visits a teen through the Friends at Home program.
“His mom tells us he looks forward to seeing us every week,” he says. “He’s usually happy to see us. He tells us about his week and what he’s planning for the week ahead.”
Zalcberg is a member of the Beth Am Teen Fellowship. The teens volunteer locally and internationally.
“We went to Guatemala,” he says. “We built a school there. We’ll have a community service. Then we’ll have studies with the rabbi.”
He’s in BAFTY, serving as the religious and cultural vice president. Next year he’s the programming vice president.
“This past year we hosted a convention,” he says. “We planned it. That was for over 350 teens that came from all over Florida. It was awesome.”
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
