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VOLUNTEERS AT
THE IMMOKALEE FOUNDATION
RECEIVE AWARDS
ALFREDO VILLALOBOS-PEREZ to be named a Woman of Initiative. “It’s a wonderful honor – and quite a club to
belong to,” she said. A celebration in April will feature video presentations of Penta
by Steven Kissinger and several other women, each talking about the greatest influences in their lives.
W inning must be contagious! TIF’s Board Chairman Joseph Zednik recently was named a Distinguished
Recently, two longtime adult Volunteer by the Everglades Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
supporters of The Immokalee
Foundation and one student were honored for It was a complete surprise, Zednik said. “I certainly thought it was very nice, but
their selflessness as volunteers and philanthropists. really, I’m not in it for honors,” he said. “I’m in it for what we do for the students.
Combined, they represent decades of support to My passion in charitable work is education. I think it’s the most important thing
the community and commitment to the future of we can do.”
youth in Immokalee.
Through the TIF mentor and mentee relationship Salvador Preciado recently
The Immokalee Foundation board member spent a day meeting the veterinarian at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida,
and mentor Louise Penta was named a 2016 animal care professionals at the Naples Zoo, and Zednik’s own doctor, so Preciado
Woman of Initiative by the Women’s Foundation could learn more about possible careers in medicine. The junior at Immokalee High
of Collier County. Every spring since 1998, the School is interested in pursuing a career in a medical field, and Zednik hopes that
foundation has honored women who are leaders exposure to different types of jobs will help him make a more informed decision.
and who inspire others through their civic
engagement and philanthropy. Zednik’s nomination for the award read: “Through his volunteerism and
mentoring, Joe warmly opens a world of possibilities to these young, eager students
Penta has mentored five students for The and mentees – who lovingly call him Papa Joe.”
Immokalee Foundation and has been a board
member for seven years. Still, she was surprised TIF’s Take Stock in Children scholarship recipient Alfredo Villalobos-Perez
was named one of two Outstanding Philanthropic Youth by the Everglades Chapter
of AFP.
Now a student at Grinnell College in Iowa, Villalobos-Perez has done more
in just a few years to improve his community than many others do in a lifetime.
He founded the first Earth Day celebration in Immokalee last April, after an
internship with the University of Florida’s Agriculture and Science Center, where
he participated in experiments on water quality.
He was a volunteer and then a board member of Immokalee Little League.
Villalobos-Perez also volunteered in a surgical infectious disease unit for Lee
Memorial Health System. He was young for the assignment, but since he was dual
enrolled in high school and college – at FGCU – he was allowed to participate.
Villalobos-Perez also worked with other young adults to create a company called
Taste of Immokalee, which sells items made from locally grown produce.
The Immokalee Foundation provides a range of education programs that focus
on building pathways to success through college and post-secondary preparation
and support, mentoring and tutoring, opportunities for broadening experiences, and
life skills development leading to economic independence.To learn more about TIF,
volunteering as a mentor or for additional information, call 239.430.9122 or visit
www.immokaleefoundation.org.
Steven Kissinger, executive director of The Immokalee Foundation, can be reached at
steven.kissinger@immokaleefoundation.com.
82 Life in Naples | February 2016
