Naples Daily News article notes Shelly Stayer Shelter in Immokalee
Photo courtesy Naples Daily News
By Katherine Hamilton
Naples Daily News, Aug. 5, 2108
Diana Garcia has lived in Immokalee since she was little. Now, with three little ones of her own — two of them enrolled in the Collier County school system — she appreciates any help she receives to give her children the send-off they deserve.
She and her children were among the more than 2,000 attendees of the seventh annual Lipman Family Farms Giveaway Back to School event at the Immokalee High School football field Saturday. More than 1,500 backpacks, as well as 200 bikes, $3,000 in gift cards and 150 haircuts were given to students and their families to prepare them for the upcoming school year.
“I think it’s really helpful,” Garcia said, her children by her side admiring their new backpacks. “It helps a lot with school supplies.”
Families flooded into the stadium at 9 a.m., enjoyed free food, drinks and games, including corn hole, and bubble-blowing, and got in line to receive the free backpacks, food and other supplies. Children who won “golden tickets” had the chance to hand-pick one of 200 bikes from Bikes for Tykes to take home.
Leticia Carmona,12, walked through the rows of bikes with her family, looking for the perfect one. She finally landed on a pink one with silver, shimmery streamers.
“I feel grateful,” she said with a shy smile.
The Friends of Foster Children Forever also hosted its fifth annual Back to School Bonanza for foster children with open dependency cases in Collier County on Saturday at the Golden Gate Community Center. The event was sponsored again this year by Arthrex and served more than 300 foster children, plus their siblings.
Lipman Family Farms is the largest producer of field-grown tomatoes in the country. It has been growing and processing tomatoes in the Immokalee area since the 1960s and has had its headquarters there since the ’80s, said Jaime Weisinger, director of community relations for Lipman Family Farms and a fourth-generation Lipman family member.
Immokalee is responsible for 75 percent of the nation’s tomato production in November and December, Weisinger said.
About 45 percent of the area’s residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Roth has volunteered for the event for six years and has brought her own two daughters with her to help since they were ages 4 and 6.
“It’s the experience of giving back to the community and making sure (my daughters) understand that there are people that are in need that really, truly deserve to be able to go back to school with full backpacks,” she said.
Only half of people in Immokalee have health insurance; the average person makes $10,000 a year; and 40 percent of people graduate from high school and 4 percent from college, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
Collier County has about 1,400 homeless people this year and an additional 1,200 children at risk of becoming homeless, according to The Hunger and Homeless Coalition of Collier County.
It’s numbers such as those that make the Lipman Family Farms Giveaway Back to School event important.
“The entire community has come together around this event,” Weisinger said. “They know how important it is to this town. What you see now is the result of seven years of effort.”
Besides preparing students for school, the event had more than 40 exhibitors, representatives of nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
“(The vendors) will help people understand what services are available here,” Weisinger said.
One of the tents at the event was for The Shelter for Abused Women and Children. The shelter was recognized as a national model for its work serving immigrant and migrant battered women through its Immokalee Outreach Office.
The need for a shelter in Immokalee has grown over the years. Florida is the third-highest trafficking destination in the country, according to the Florida Department of Health. In 2015, 15 human traffickers were arrested in “Operation Human Freedom” by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. Six women ages 25 to 35 were rescued.
The nonprofit organization hopes to break ground for the new Shelly Stayer Shelter for Victims of Human Trafficking & Domestic Violence in January and will have 32 beds available.
“(The shelter) did an assessment to measure the need, and in addition to measuring the need for the domestic violence shelter, they also measured need (based on) human trafficking,” said Kaydee Tuff, communications manager for The Shelter for Abused Women and Children. “So, that was the impetus for combining the two into one facility with separate wings and separate therapy for each.”
