Young philanthropists — A group of young students, led by Victor Gonzalez, raised close to $4K for the San Benito Public Library. Among those seen here are, from the back row, left to right, Logan Banda, Joel L. Montalvo, Asa N. Figueroa, Victor M. Gonzalez, Sebastian Benavides, Kaleb A. Gonzales, Ketherine A. Gonzales, Aaron M. Perez, and Evan Fernandez. Not pictured are Adrian Hernandez and Drake Garcia. (San Benito News/Ray Quiroga)
By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
In a world that seems to grow more detached by the day, a young man and a group of his friends are bucking the trend and doing what they can to give back to the community this holiday season.
In fact, Victor Gonzalez, a sixth-grade student at South Texas ISD’s Rising Scholars Academy in San Benito, spearheads a community project on his own time and dime at least once a year.
Past projects have benefited the San Benito Food Pantry, the local animal shelter, and Maggie’s House.
This year, Gonzalez led a fundraising effort for the San Benito Public Library by soliciting donations from area businesses and organizing a garage and candy sale. In the end, Gonzalez and his friends raised $3,605 for the library, surpassing their initial goal of $3K.
Gonzalez, who said he’s aiming to become a lawyer one day, said he hopes the funds will go towards improving the library’s children’s section.
His mother, Maricela, said he began tackling these community projects as a pre-kindergarten student and takes on at least one each year.
“I guess because we live in a small town, and we see the need in a lot of places,” Maricela said when asked what motivates Victor and her family to shoulder these projects.
Maricela said she and her husband also wanted to instill in Victor a sense of philanthropy and compassion for others.
“My parents were very humble, hardworking people, and they would say, ‘Never deny food or clothing to someone because one day it may be your turn to be in need,’” Maricela said.
Eleven-year-old Joel Montalvo was one of about nine of Victor’s friends who helped with the effort. He said his role was to ask businesses for monetary assistance to meet the group’s goal. His salesmanship proved formidable. The future neurosurgeon said he was motivated by the prospect of “seeing people happy” when those funds are put to use.
“I think people should give back to their community. It not only makes other people happy, but it also makes you happy when you see the smiles on other people’s faces,” he concluded.
Eight-year-old Evan Fernandez of Los Fresnos shared a similar sentiment. The third grader was especially enthusiastic about this project because of his love of reading. Fernandez, Victor’s cousin, added that he was pleased to have helped his cousin achieve his goal.
“I’m just happy we had a chance to donate to the library,” Fernandez, who hopes to become a First Responder one day, said.
For his next project, Victor and his mom are considering launching a summer food program for children.
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