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Westminster Christian School senior Madison Hendrikse owns her own business. She began Ties of Faith in 2015 because she was looking for a way to combine her creative abilities with a way to give back to the community.
“So, I started selling handmade jewelry and hair ties on Etsy,” she says. “The most important aspect is how the profits are used.”
At first, she donated ten percent of the proceeds to Samaritan’s Purse.
“I was able to provide underprivileged children with funds to teach them to read and write and to provide meals for struggling families,” she says.
In July of 2019, she switched to donating twenty percent of the proceeds to Camillus House.
“I wanted to make an impact locally and with an organization that improves the lives of homeless,” she says. “I’ve grown up in a Christian household. I knew I wanted to sell jewelry and hair ties but also affect the lives of people around me. In 2021, I took 250 hair ties and I donated them to the Agape Network, a rehab organization for women and families.”
She usually sells her hair ties and jewelry online, but she once attended a Children’s Business Fair at Dadeland Mall. Her goods sold well.
“We got hands-on experience in the business world,” she says. “We got our own tables to set up as we wanted.”
At school, Hendrikse is the service coordinator for the organization, Westminster Vision.
“We collect used glasses to give to the underserved community,” she says. “We’ve donated to Nicaragua, London and Mexico and five senior homes.”
During the summer of 2021, club members conducted an eyeglasses drive over a high school concourse and collected more than 80 pairs of glasses.
Her job has her sending out flyers to get the word out when they are seeking donations.
She also consults with representatives of potential non-profit recipients.
“Each place has different requirements,” she says. “It was difficult to get into these Miami senior homes to personally drop them off.”
In 2020, they donated more than 210 pairs to the Miami senior homes. In 2021, they collected more than 80 pairs of glasses. Earlier this spring they were still collecting in hopes of making a larger donation to a local organization.
Her school activities include orchestra. She’s the first chair celloist in the Westminster orchestra.
Hendrikse is captain of the cheerleading team. She’s been cheering since fifth grade.
She’s also a Westminster peer counselor.
“We provide support alongside a training professional for any teen who wants to reach out,” she says. “We are good listeners and we provide support.”
Peer counselors are chosen by the principal and the high school counselor because they display empathy, good listening skills and are able to keep confidences.
Hendrikse is the vice president of Heartstrings, a music ensemble outreach club.
“We go to retirement communities and play concerts for them. In 2020, when we could no longer go and play for them, we recorded concerts and happy birthday videos.”
Hendrikse is a member of the National Honor Society, Rho Kappa, the English National Honor Society, the Science National Honor Society, the Foreign Language Honor Society and she’s the treasurer of Tri-M, the music honor society. She also volunteers at the Westminster Summer Fun Camp.
Hendrikse has been accepted to the University of Georgia, Auburn University, Clemson University, Florida State University, and the University of Florida.
She plans to major in elementary education at the University of Florida to become a teacher.
Outside of school, Hendrikse volunteers at her church at the childcare center on Sundays.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
