PROFITS: All profits are poured back into the nonprofit Taste the Impact to continue funding the program and providing more underserved students with the life-changing skills and college scholarships needed to break the cycle of poverty throughout our community.
PROGRAM: Through the nonprofit youth entrepreneurship program Taste the Impact, underserved high school students learn about entrepreneurship and gain the business, technical, and soft skills needed in the workforce. They have additional opportunities to earn professional certifications including the State of Florida Ready to Work credential.
PRODUCTS: The students put those skills to work through the student-created social business, Taste of Immokalee. They gain hands-on, real-world experience while operating the business. Under the guidance or professional mentors, these young entrepreneurs create, package, market, sell, and service Taste of Immokalee products.
"Taste of Immokalee gives our students a platform to have a voice and make a difference. They are creating something
that the world sees as valuable, which has instilled a sense of pride and confidence in children who otherwise had
none. They are no longer the underdog; they are game changers."
Executive Director, Marie Capita, on the transformation occurring through Taste of Immokalee
Since our beginnings in 2014, the founding students pictured above are flourishing in college campuses around the country – the first in their families to have the opportunity to obtain a college education. That success has continued with the many students who have participated in Taste of Immokalee since.
We are grateful for the opportunity to make a significant impact on young lives, and the community of
Immokalee, Florida. The statistics below represent our success after just two full years of operation.
Student
Served
Paid
Internships
Credentials
Awarded
As our students are benefitting from our program, they are also impacting hundreds of lives in
their hometown of Immokalee, Florida through their ability to give back.
All profits from the sale of Taste of Immokalee products are poured back into our nonprofit program, Taste the Impact. This funding fuels our ability to provide business experience and college scholarships to our students, support local youth programs and alleviate the many economic needs in our community, such as those highlighted below.
In 2016, our students purchased toys and games for the Center, and spent time playing and bringing smiles to the children.
After learning that many migrant mothers did not have clothing for their babies, students purchased newborn clothing to donate to the local hospital.
A donation of $10,000 to the Benison Center enabled the transport of supplies to families devastated by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Every time you purchase a Taste of Immokalee product, you help us continue to be a
blessing to so many others. Thank you for helping us make a difference!
In 2017, a 14-year-old young man from Naples entered the Taste of Immokalee (TOI) summer internship program. That young man...
read Jeremiah Paul's Story
Prisca Paul recalls being known as the “family hustler” growing up. The youngest of five siblings, “I was always looking...
read Prisca Paul's Story
One of the unique things that sets Taste of Immokalee’s student entrepreneurship program apart is that we allow students to...
read Wilvens Astreide's Story
When Eric Garcia joined Taste of Immokalee as a sophomore in high school, his entire world changed. The son of...
read Eric Garcia's Story
When Yvelande Astreide joined Taste of Immokalee just before her senior year of high school, she was the quiet girl...
read Yvelande Astreide's Story
As a high school senior, Elizabeth Martinez was one of the founders of Taste of Immokalee. She vividly recalls the...
read Elizabeth Martinez's Story
Growing up in poverty and wondering if her family would eat at night, Regine Francois shares how Taste of Immokalee...
read Regine Francois's Story
Alfredo Villalobos Perez vividly recalls his childhood on the road with his migrant family, following the picking season and switching...
read Alfredo Villalobos Perez's StoryAn investment in Taste of Immokalee is an investment in the future of hundreds of young lives that just need a chance.
“This isn’t about us. It’s about kids…and Immokalee. This is about taking a community and making it thrive in the future. We’re inviting you to participate in that with all the enthusiasm, all the joy, all the energy you could possibly bring.” -Reid Carpenter
“There is no better place that you can invest time, money, energy, relationship than in the Sebastians and the Abigails of the world. We have to give them a shot.” -Sherman Brown
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