full-time Taylor Farms employees, and they are given with the intent to continue throughout the student’s academic career. Taylor Farms partners with the Community Foundation for Monterey County to facilitate the application process and award distribution for students to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees. Grimmway Farms also supports the children of their employees with their scholarship program. Their scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement and are renewable for four years. Students who exceed a 4.0 GPA are awarded a Macbook Pro laptop in addition to their scholarship fund. In the years between 1997 and 2020, “Grimmway supported more than 740 students through scholarships totaling over $2.15 million in funds.” Career Support Agriculture is a rapidly advancing industry, and more and more skilled employees are needed every year. Tasks
that were once manual are now or will eventually be managed by someone who has a strong STEM background. Along with financial support through its scholarship program, Taylor Farms also offers a mentorship program. Each scholarship recipient is partnered with a Taylor Farms employee who will serve as a mentor, “helping provide invaluable resources to mentees both personally and professionally.” This creates an easy transition into learning the applicable high-level skills participants will need. This past year, a record-breaking 130 Wonderful Education scholars graduated from four-year universities. More than 75 percent expressed their intention to return to the Central Valley after college to become the next generation of leaders in the region, and over 44 exceptional Wonderful Education scholars have received job offers to work across various businesses of The Wonderful Company. The Wonderful Company is committed
to providing the next generation with the best possible work environment and
opportunities for growth. The Future of Agriculture So many members of these
communities, from the employee on the field to the student studying at home, are making great strides and accomplishing much for their communities and for the nation’s food source without expectation of praise or recognition. But they are the future of both agriculture as well as other industries. As Lynda Resnick said: “Our children have so much to contribute to the world and, thanks to them, I know our future is bright.”
As part of their support of Wonderful College Prep Academy (WCPA), the company has invested $155 million to build state-of-the-art K-12 campuses.
28
MAY | JUNE 2023
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker