The second poorest community in Florida, nearly half of the people in Immokalee live below the poverty level. Our hometown is a special place filled with hard-working migrant farm workers and their families who desire a better life but have little hope of achieving it. In 2014, a group of high school students dared to dream and with the support of 1By1 Leadership Foundation, they started Taste of Immokalee.
Taste of Immokalee is a benefit corporation committed to empowering youth to rise out of poverty and influence positive change in their community, with the business and leadership skills needed to succeed in college and in professional careers.
“Students often enter our program unable to make eye contact and lacking the soft skills necessary for business careers. But they grow into confident leaders who are now capable of public speaking and representing our business throughout the community and beyond.” Executive Director, Marie Capita, on the transformation occurring through Taste of Immokalee
In 2014, these students from Immokalee High School were returning to school after a field trip where they packed meals for the many hungry people in their town. As they looked around at the fields of rich agriculture surrounding them, they asked themselves, “What if we created food products from all this produce, and sold them so we can give back and help the hungry in our own community?”
That was the beginning of Taste of Immokalee, a social enterprise created and operated by high school students. Watch the video and meet some of our founders as they recall the journey and share how their lives have been changed.
Learn how our profits have been used to provide toys to the Immokalee Child Care Center, newborn clothing for migrant mothers, backpacks and school supplies, and a $10,000 donation to support relief efforts when our community was devastated by Hurricane Irma.
Our graduates are thriving in college campuses around the country – the first in their families to have that opportunity. As our graduates pursue their dreams, they remain involved with Taste of Immokalee by serving as role models to our younger students.
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