About Our Youth Entrepreneurship Program
|
Program: Underserved high school students learn about entrepreneurship and gain the business, technical, and soft skills needed in the workforce through our nonprofit, Taste the Impact.
Products: The students put their new skills to work for our student-created business, Taste of Immokalee. Our young entrepreneurs are involved in all aspects of bringing our products to you. Profits: All profits from the sale of products are poured back into the program to continue providing more students with life-changing skills and college scholarship needed to break the cycle of poverty in our community. Please consider supporting Taste the Impact with your tax deductible donations. Together we are igniting dreams and changing communities. |
|
IN THE WORDS OF A FOUNDING STUDENT
Our Story
|
In 2014, my classmates and I were returning to Immokalee High School from a field trip where we packed meals for the many hungry people in our town. Most of us had grown up in migrant farm working families, within an impoverished community where there was little hope for a better future. But on that particular day we looked around at all the fields of rich agriculture surrounding us and we asked ourselves, "What would happen if we created products from these crops, sold them, and used the profits to help people in our community?"
That was the beginning of Taste of Immokalee, a social business created and operated by high school students that creates and sells salsa and sauces from the fresh produce of Immokalee, Florida, using the profits to alleviate the extreme poverty throughout our community. The entrepreneurship program, now called Taste the Impact, enabled me to grow into a person that both me and my family are proud of. I have gained business and leadership skills that not only prepared me to become a first-generation college graduate, but also were crucial to attaining multiple internships. I am now beginning my career – one that I could not have imagined possible just four years ago when returning from that field trip in high school. -Dulce Marie Mendoza, Founding Member of Taste of Immokalee |
|
100% of Profits Benefit YouthYour purchases keep our program going!
Students that move into internship positions gain hands-on experience in all areas of business while learning to create and sell products through our benefit corporation, Taste of Immokalee. Developed in partnership with professional mentors, chefs and food industry experts, Taste of Immokalee's salsa and sauces are made with farm-fresh local produce and meet the highest quality standards.
All profits from the sale of these products are poured back into the program to continue providing more students with life-changing skills and college scholarships needed to break the cycle of poverty in our community. |
Made with fresh Florida produce, Taste of Immokalee products are sold online and in over 240 Publix locations in Florida.
|
CHANGING LIVES
The Impact
High school graduates, first-generation college students who are thriving in college campuses around the U.S. including Ivy League schools, and young professionals succeeding in corporate environments - all while giving back to their hometown community of Immokalee, Florida. These are just a few of the many ways Taste the Impact is changing lives.
