NAPLES — The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has generously supported The Immokalee Foundation’s education, career readiness, and professional development programs for eight consecutive years. However, this year, they took their time-honored commitment to a new level by funding the next two years: $170,000 a year for two successive years for a total amount of $340,000.

The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has a long history of passionately supporting The Immokalee Foundation’s Immokalee Readers and Career Pathways programs. In doing so, they are enhancing the education of students from the beginning of kindergarten all the way through high school graduation.

As literacy is the backbone of any successful academic career, the Immokalee Readers Program is an after-school early intervention literacy tutoring program for the lowest-performing students. Struggling readers work with high school tutors under the supervision of certified teachers.

The Immokalee Readers program serves almost 800 students and operates in all five Immokalee elementary schools and at Immokalee Community School.

The Immokalee Foundation’s award-winning Career Pathways program currently serves over 300 middle and high school students.

With a “Career Exploration” phase beginning in 6th grade, middle school students and their parents learn about the various in-demand careers and the educational requirements and training available. Activities include educational summer camps, internships, mentoring, and financial literacy training.

In high school, Foundation students follow one of four specific pathways: Business Management & Entrepreneurship, Education & Human Services, Engineering & Construction Management, or Healthcare. In addition to mentoring, field trips and ACT/SAT prep, high school students participate in internships, primarily in the summer months. Plus, they receive scholarships to enable them to pursue certifications and postsecondary degrees.

“Through their continuing support of The Immokalee Foundation’s educational programs, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has already touched thousands of young lives,” said Noemi Y. Perez, President & CEO of The Immokalee Foundation. “By expressing my gratitude for Schulze’s longstanding commitment to our mission, I find myself speaking on behalf of hundreds of young professionals already out there making a name for themselves as they contribute to Southwest Florida’s economy.”

The Immokalee Foundation’s program has a proven track record of success: 100 percent of the Foundation’s students graduate from high school; 100% percent of their students have a postsecondary plan for a professional career and ninety-two percent of students graduate with an advanced postsecondary certificate or degree.

“The Immokalee Foundation is helping local students change the course of their lives by providing high-quality educational programs,” said Mary Beth Geier, Florida Director of the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. “We are proud of our investment in the Immokalee Readers and Career Pathways program and applaud the organization for its continued efforts to build important pathways to success. It is our Founder’s belief that education is integral to an individual’s ability to succeed and to a community’s ability to prosper.”