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Article_Lourdes student named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers

School News | Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Lourdes student named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers

Carolina Gonzalez, center, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, meets "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, left, at a dinner reception for all state honorees, which took place at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History May 4.

Photographer: Copyright 2015 Zach Harrison Pho

Carolina Gonzalez, center, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, meets "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, left, at a dinner reception for all state honorees, which took place at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History May 4.

MIAMI | Carolina Gonzalez, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, has been selected as one of America’s Top Ten Youth Volunteers of 2015 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Program.

This national recognition is based on her outstanding achievements in community service. She was presented with the honor during the program’s 20th annual national award ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, May 4 in Washington, D.C.

Carolina was selected first from a field of more than 33,000 middle and high school youth volunteers nationwide, and then from 102 state honorees. The award recognizes overall initiative, effort, impact and personal growth exhibited in the course of the volunteer service.   

As a national honoree, Carolina will receive $5,000 in personal awards, an engraved gold medallion, crystal trophy for the school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for the charity of her choice.

Carolina Gonzalez, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, was named one of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers at a ceremony May 4 in Washington, D.C.

Photographer:

Carolina Gonzalez, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, was named one of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers at a ceremony May 4 in Washington, D.C.

Carolina started a non-profit organization that has helped more than 500 undocumented young immigrants apply for temporary residence and employment in the U.S., under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. She has raised more than $22,000 to pay the application fees of those who cannot afford them. 

“Since the time I was able to (have) a conversation, my mother would remind me of what they went through; and, at the end of the discussion, she always accentuated how, because of her parents’ decision (who fled Cuba in search of a better life), I was born an American citizen,” Carolina said. "It has been engraved in me to never take my citizenship for granted.” 

Carolina has volunteered in numerous ways since the age of five, but she always longed to do more for her peers in her community. It was not until her father, an immigration lawyer, mentioned how difficult it was for young immigrants to apply for deferred status, that she figured out how. 

Through her non-profit organization, Deferred Action for Dreamers (DAD), she began organizing clinics for DACA applicants and recruiting pro-bono lawyers to help them through the complex and time-consuming application process. She also raises funds to give small grants to applicants who cannot afford the $465 application fee. 

“I am not only giving them hope for their future, but also giving them the chance to achieve the American dream,” she said. 

Carolina will graduate from high school May 21. She will attend Barnard College of Columbia University in New York, where she plans to double major in English and political science.  

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