{"id":997,"date":"2026-06-18T11:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=997"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:03:49","slug":"positive-people-in-pinecrest-catalina-valdes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=997","title":{"rendered":"Positive people in Pinecrest : Catalina Valdes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Saint Brendan\u2019s High School 2026 graduate Catalina Valdes won $5,000 from the Publix Carole Jenkins Barnett Community Scholarship. Valdes will use her scholarship money to go to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She will major in interior design with a minor in Historic Preservation.<\/p>\n

Read more Positive people in Pinecrest : Gabrielle Kushner<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in art,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to make a career of it, and I didn\u2019t know how and the option came and I said hmmm, I\u2019ve always been interested in historic buildings. I grew up in Miami and there\u2019s Coral Gables and the majority of those buildings are historic homes, and I\u2019ve always been interested in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She learned that historic preservation interior design is a major during a visit to Savannah where they went to a speakeasy that had been redone by interior design and historic preservation students at the Savannah School of Art and Design.<\/p>\n

Valdes won the scholarship for her volunteer efforts. She\u2019s earned more than 2000 community service hours having started volunteering her freshman year. What\u2019s impressive is that she also worked part-time at Publix starting her sophomore year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublix is very flexible,\u201d she says. \u201cI put in that I have a volunteer event on Saturday and they give it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She began with a foster organization, filling backpacks with school supplies for kids from pre-K to high school.<\/p>\n

Her early experiences helped her fall in love with volunteering, and she just kept on going.<\/p>\n

Valdes created a service project called Love Thy Neighbor. Through the project she provided more than 1,000 arts kits to the sheriff\u2019s office, the Nicklaus Children\u2019s Hospital Psychology Department, and Lotus House.<\/p>\n

She was the youth chair for the Junior Orange Bowl Youth Ambassadors, and she fosters kittens that are newborn or up to four weeks old for the Miami-Dade County animal shelter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey require a lot of attention and care,\u201d she says. \u201cI did a lot of fostering over the summer. After the swim season I would start fostering even more because I had a lot of time on my hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

She fostered six pairs of kittens and one single kitten. The single kitten, named Daisy, ended up a member of her family.<\/p>\n

Her volunteer efforts include two Blue Mission trips to the Dominican Republic. On the first mission, they provided latrines to the remote villagers.<\/p>\n

Read more Panter, Panter & Sampedro Awards 2026 Scholarships to two Miami Palmetto Senior High School students<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI got to interact with the people in the village,\u201d she says. \u201cI could see I was making an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the second trip, they piped in water to a different village.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe helped bring water from the water source, which was five miles away up in the mountains,\u201d she says. \u201cWe made that trip the first day and I never want to make that trip again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she cannot imagine walking five miles with buckets every day.<\/p>\n

Because of her experiences, she started the Blue Club at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s basically like Blue Missions but on a more local level,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are spreading awareness about water conservation and the water crisis. We would have presentations every month. We helped stuff these bags during the Women and Children\u2019s Day they have for Blue Mission. We packed toiletries and sanitary pads for the women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bags were taken by St. Brendan\u2019s teachers who participated on a Blue Mission trip.<\/p>\n

In addition to her own club, Valdes is a member of Key Club, which offers more volunteering opportunities.<\/p>\n

She was the St. Brenden\u2019s Silver Knight nominee in the Vocational\/Technical category.<\/p>\n

Valdes was a member of the varsity swim team for three years participating in the 100-meter breaststroke races.<\/p>\n

Linda Bernfeld Rodriguez<\/strong><\/p>\n

ABOUT US:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area.<\/em><\/p>\n

This family-owned media company publishes more than a dozen neighborhood publications, magazines, special sections on their websites, newsletters, as well as distributing them in print throughout Miami Dade County from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead. Each online publication and print editions provide comprehensive coverage of local news, events, business updates, lifestyle features, and local initiatives within its respective community.<\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami\u2019s culture. Whether you\u2019re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts, Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers has you covered. For more information, be sure to check out: https:\/\/communitynewspapers.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you have any questions, feel free to email Michael@communitynewspapers.com or Grant@communitynewspapers.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Santo Dulce! Churros brings \u201cChurros Mundiales\u201d flavors to World Cup watch parties<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saint Brendan\u2019s High School 2026 graduate Catalina Valdes won $5,000 from the Publix Carole Jenkins Barnett Community Scholarship. Valdes will use her scholarship money to go to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She will major in interior design with a minor in Historic Preservation. \u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in art,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[14,15,119,120],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pinecrest-community-news","tag-pinecrest-community-news","tag-pinecrest-featured","tag-pinecrest-home","tag-positive-people"],"yoast_head":"\nPositive people in Pinecrest : Catalina Valdes - Miami Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=997\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Positive people in Pinecrest : Catalina Valdes - Miami Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saint Brendan\u2019s High School 2026 graduate Catalina Valdes won $5,000 from the Publix Carole Jenkins Barnett Community Scholarship. 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