By Jeremiah Paul, Taste of Immokalee Student Intern

​This year has been a new adventure for all of us, but one thing that has stayed the same is the generosity from you, our supporters. Taste the Impact’s number one goal is to ensure that our students have the resources, skills, and guidance to succeed. We would not be able to do this without your help. 

We want to thank everyone who has donated, volunteered, purchased Taste of Immokalee products or has supported Taste the Impact in any other way. Here are some examples of the many ways that your kindness has gone above and beyond in the past few months. 

​An alarm clock buzzes around 4 a.m. reminding them it’s time to start their day. Once up, Jeanne and Jean Astreide travel to the potato packing house, where they spend the next 10 hours working. The couple returns home around 9 p.m. to a house full of children and find their work is not over.

Yvelande Astreide and her siblings witnessed their parents’ lifestyle as farmworkers. After working long shifts, Astreide’s mom and dad came home to a list of routine duties: prepare food, check homework, and wash clothes.  

“It was horrible to see my mom and dad come home after work,” Astreide said. “It’s not a pretty picture at all. They get hurt. They get tired.”

Published in Coastal Breeze News, July 4, 2020.
“Resilient” has always been a word that describes Taste of Immokalee students. The Class of 2020, all that have overcome a global pandemic and racial unrest, elevates that description to a whole new level. 

This time has also impeded our ability to gift our graduates with college scholarships since COVID-19 guidelines have required us to cancel our fundraisers this year. We turn to you, our generous supporters, and ask for your help in sending these remarkable students off to college with their heads held high.