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Our Lady of Lourdes junior Isabella (Isa) Ramos just finished her Girl Scout Gold Award called Creative Creatures.
“My Gold Award was targeted to dementia patients,” she says. “I lived with that with my grandmother. She passed away in January of 2022.”
Her project entailed collecting small stuffed animals and donating them to numerous fire departments. The stuffed animals are carried in fire rescue trucks to give to dementia or Alzheimer’s patients when they are frightened. In total, she collected 500 stuffed animals.
“We also took monetary donations,” she says. “A lot of the firefighters donated. It was never my intention, but they donated. So, 500 bears. It exceeded my expectations.”
The project was created due to the experiences she had with her grandmother. When her grandmother was afraid, Ramos would give her one of her stuffed animals and that would help her grandmother calm down.
Ramos decided to donate the stuffed animals to fire departments because she wanted to help dementia patients who were in their homes and dealing with a scary situation when needing emergency care.
She met with the fire chief of Coral Gables and learned that the package with the stuffed animal had to be compact.
“We had to find something that was six inches in length so that it would fit both in the bags and the fire compartment,” she says.
To help with the project, she turned to the Health Professionals Club at her school.
“We discussed how to make it sustainable,” she says. “The fire departments are willing to continue to facilitate it as well.”
She says the Coral Gables fire department said the project is successful.
“I did train a group of firefighters at every department,” she says. “I explained what the project was, that when you feel it is necessary, when you feel it’s going downhill, that’s when you give it to them.”
Ramos says that when she gave her grandmother a stuffed animal, it seemed to take her back to her roots in Cuba, when her mother would give her a stuffed animal.
“She often would forget who I was or who my mom was,” Ramos says. “I don’t know why, it just worked and helped us deal with the symptoms. It was difficult. I was only 14 when she passed away. I wanted to help her. I grew up and I did it. This project has been for me, not closure, but honoring her.”
At school, she’s not only in the Health Professionals Club but Key Club, the Spanish Club, and the Fashion Club as well.
She does community service with a small non-profit called Branches which does a Thanksgiving drive. It includes prepping meals on Thanksgiving morning and volunteers can sign up to be a driver.
“I love to deliver them,” she says.
Ramos volunteers for Achieve Miami, helping children develop their reading and writing skills.
Last summer, she traveled to the Dominican Republic for a Blue Mission trip to dig trenches to supply water to a remote village in the countryside.
Ramos also teaches CCD classes to third graders at St. John Neumann Catholic Church.
Because of her interest in the medical field, she completed an internship at Doctor’s Hospital in Coral Gables in July 2023. She also did an internship in a pediatrician’s office.
“I want to be a neurosurgeon,” she says. “I want to study the brain. I’m also interested in surgery. Being a neurosurgeon is the best of both worlds.”
Next fall, she’s considering applying to Clemson, Catholic University, Loyola University, and some of the state universities.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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