This month we continued our long-time support of education by donating nearly 5,000 backpacks filled with essential school supplies and healthy snacks to students in local communities. It’s all part of our 13th annual “Taylor Farms Backpack Distribution Program,” which has donated over 35,000 backpacks to students since 2010.
The program began in Monterey County and has since expanded to eight other Taylor Farms locations. Every year, over 1,000 backpacks are distributed to local first graders prior to their first days of school. Taylor Farms employees get involved, too, by helping to pack the backpacks with the essential supplies and distribute them to the kids.
Safety Manager Panchita Preciado, who has led this program for over 13 years, says that Taylor Farms also has a personal connection to some of the schools. “The majority of the schools in the program include kids or relatives of our employees, so it’s nice to feel like we’re making an impact on our employees’ personal lives as well as the larger community.”
The philosophy behind our youth development program focuses on making education more inclusive and creative. We want to provide learning and development opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Our program continues to evolve to meet community needs focused on early learning, higher education, entrepreneurship and vocational skills, as well as the educational resources to help students reach their goals.
Our backpack giveaway program complements our long-running tradition of educational philanthropy, which also includes the Taylor Farms Scholarship awards, which have awarded over $3 million in scholarship funds to deserving students.
