Monterey Mushrooms presented 73 children of its teammates with $207,000 in scholarship awards for the 2022-23 academic year. On August 4th, Shah Kazemi, CEO, presented 10 of those recipients with their awards in person at the company's corporate office in Watsonville, California. Twelve families were in attendance.
Scholarship award recipients and their parents, who are Monterey Mushrooms teammates.
“This is a monumental event for us at Monterey to have an opportunity to meet the wonderful parents of our young leaders of tomorrow,” said Kazemi as he began the award ceremony. He congratulated the students for their hard work and determination and their parents for raising such extraordinary individuals. “Education is an elevator that gives individuals the capability to climb in life to earn a better wage, raise a better family, to make a better contribution to society,” said Shah.
Daniel Vargas, a Business Administration major and a freshman at California State University Monterey Bay attended the in-person award ceremony alongside his parents to receive the Carl Victor Fields Scholarship. “This scholarship will help me achieve my dreams by helping me pay for my studies, and it will take a massive burden off my parents,” Vargas said. “With this scholarship, I will be able to pay a significant portion of CSUMB's fees, allowing me to put more time into my education and studies.”
Shah Kazemi, Monterey Mushrooms CEO, congratulates the mother of the scholarship award recipient, Antonia Guerrero Sanchez, alongside her husband and Monterey Mushrooms teammate, Hector Sanchez, in Watsonville, California.
Monterey Mushrooms celebrated 50 years in business in 2021 and believes the company's scholarship program is one way to live out its company purpose, “Enhancing People’s Lives.” For the past 31 years, dependent children of full-time employees have been eligible to apply for a scholarship of up to $5,000 for up to four years.
The program was renamed the Carl Victor Fields Scholarship Program in 2004 to honor the company’s past vice-president of marketing who was passionate about the importance of young people achieving their potential. Since its inception, 2,460 grants have been awarded for a program total of more than $3.6 million.
Kazemi giving a speech to scholarship recipients and their parents.
Scholarships are awarded to students who pursue higher education degrees at accredited colleges, universities and vocational/technical schools. To apply, students share their educational background, academic goals/aspirations, school activities, work experience and personal achievements.
For more information:
Lindsey Occhipinti
Monterey Mushrooms, Inc.
Tel: +1 (831) 763-5355
locchipinti@montmush.com
www.montereymushrooms.com