I don’t know about you, but I love those moments when God’s hand in your life is so tangible you feel like he’s almost reaching down and giving you a high five. That’s how meeting Andrea coming into my life felt, it felt like a high five from Jesus! Being new to the Richmond area I was really starting to worry when I wasn’t receiving any nominations for the Beauty Revived High School Seniors campaign I was organizing in our area. I shared it with people at church and on Facebook and on local mom’s page groups and I just couldn’t seem to get any nominations which was crazy because everyone I told about the campaign loved the concept, they told me they knew several senior girls who fit that description. I decided I was going to not worry and hand it over to God. Sure enough, that day I received an email from my 8th grade daughter’s English teacher asking for donations for a Capstone project one of her prior students was organizing, as I read on more I knew I had found my girl.. the rest is history. Meet Andrea, she is Beauty Revived. (Special thank you for Mrs. Roberts for being the angel who brought Andrea into my life and is now a part of the Beauty Revived family!)
MEET ANDREA | SHE IS BEAUTY REVIVED
Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader.. they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role- always about the goal!
Andrea will tell you she never really saw herself as a leader or set out to be one, but over time that’s exactly what she has become.
Andrea’s 8th grade teacher, Mrs. Sayani Roberts, shared “Andrea always stood out to me as possessing a sense of self beyond her years. She was poised, mature, and self-assured even in middle school, when most girls identify themselves based on their reflections in others’ eyes. Andrea was always popular but didn’t display the need to browbeat others or exclude them because she was popular and they weren’t, also singularly impressive in a middle school girl.” This is exactly why Ms. Roberts encouraged Andrea to apply for a special four year high school leadership program. She saw her potential and knew Andrea had that spark to inspire others and live out her passions in a compassionate way.
Mrs. Roberts also shared “Andrea was from a modest family made up of hard workers, so she always seemed to understand the necessity and the dignity of hard work. Over these past four years, I have looked forward to her visits “home” to Robious Middle School because I always suspected that she would have accomplished more each time I saw her. I am her elder, but I look up to her! I knew she’d “kill it” in the Leadership program, and I haven’t been disappointed! “
In fact, she has rocked the leadership program and it has also rocked her world as well!
It was a chance meeting that first started to shape and mold Andrea’s heart for serving others, and especially the sick.
Andrea was told she needed to attend any meeting from a series of speakers. She happened to catch the representative one day at lunch speaking on behalf of World Pediatric Project (WPP). WPP is a non-profit organization located in Richmond, VA and St. Louis, MO. The mission of World Pediatric Project is to heal critically ill children in Central America and the Caribbean. Andrea was immediately inspired and wanted to know more about the organization. Over the years she thought more and more about WPP and last year a friend, who is also in the leadership program, worked closely with WPP, she came into class every day and talked about she helped families get medicine and go to doctor’s appointments and this inspired Andrea. Andrea has dreamed of becoming a pediatric nurse and traveling to other countries as a traveling nurse. One of the requirements of being in the leadership program is developing, organizing and completing a senior year project called a Capstone project. The senior year Capstone project is a student led project that has to give back to community in some way. And it’s not just about raising money, it’s about raising awareness to a cause and making a difference. Andrea knew she wanted somehow incorporate medicine and supporting the needs of others who cannot help themselves into her project and after traveling to Haiti this past summer for a mission trip Andrea knew she was starting to be lead in a certain direction. Her trip to Haiti helped her realized how fortunate she was to live in America, she also realized there was a real need to help others in countries who are not afforded the same luxuries we are born into as Americans. She was inspired by the children and families she met, seeing how they suffered and how great the need was for medical care in a country that cannot support those needs. Andrea knew she was being called to travel and assist those medically in need. She also remembered how that was also the same goal of the World Pediatric Project. Andrea has worked with great tenacity her senior year to educate the Richmond area of her senior project as she partners with the World Pediatric Project to bring life saving medical care to children with nowhere else to turn. She has currently raised $2,000 of her $10,000 goal to pay for a child’s medical expenses.
After meeting and spending a lot of time with Andrea over the past few months I must say I have been blown away by her inner beauty and compassion and I agree with Ms. Roberts when she said “Andrea was exceptionally beautifully in middle school, as she is now, but she never flaunted that beauty. It was much more subtle and soft-spoken, which made her even more beautiful to me. “And I agree, Andrea is one of the most beautiful girls I know. Her beautiful heart, kind soul, and giving nature reminds me of all the beauty in the world. Andrea is Beauty Revived.
To learn more about how you can support Andrea, please visit her site HERE!
Beauty Revived is a movement to tell the stories of real women with real beauty. Photographers donate one session to a deserving woman who shows attributes of kindness, courage and strength. These sessions are featured on the site www.beautyrevived.com. This group is for the photographers who have joined the movement to ask questions and to share their victories of their Beauty Revived sessions.
One session. Real women. Great power.
Gianna Grace Photography 
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