[Photo: Naples Winter Wine Festival, photo credit Mila Bridger]

Taste of Immokalee, a social business created and operated by high school students, is pleased to announce that its youth entrepreneurship program is the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF), founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, a top-ranked national event that has raised over $191 million since its inception for the purpose of benefiting charitable programs that improve the lives of underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County, Florida.

Through its annual grants and strategic initiatives, NCEF has impacted over 45 of the most effective nonprofits in the community, providing 275,000 children with the services and resources they need to excel. NCEF’s unique approach, which emphasized collaboration between organizations and bridges public and private resources, has become a blueprint for how to transform a community, one issue at a time.

“We are so grateful to be recognized by the NCEF as a program making a difference and impacting the lives of our students and the community,” said Marie Capita, Executive Director of Taste of Immokalee. “Every year we receive far more applicants than we can financially support and must turn away many deserving teens. This funding will help us to educate more students and give them the hands-on business experience that makes them ready for careers and college.”

The Taste of Immokalee program is unique in that it not only provides classroom learning on entrepreneurship, but also real-world experience that has high school students involved in all aspects of the business. Under the guidance of professional mentors, the teens are actively working behind-the-scenes in finance, operations, sales, marketing, research and development, and more, gaining skills that future employers are seeking.

Learn more about Taste of Immokalee and its youth entrepreneurship program at www.TasteofImmokalee.com.