81 Scholarship Recipients in 2023

August 15, 2022

Monterey Mushrooms presented 81 children of its teammates with $237,300 in scholarship awards for the 2023-24 academic year. 

MONTEREY MUSHROOMS HOSTS AN AWARD CEREMONY TO CONGRATULATE TEAMMATES' CHILDREN WHO RECEIVED SCHOLARSHIPS 

We proudly presented 81 children of its teammates with $237,300 in scholarship awards for the 2023-24 academic year. On August 10th, 2023, Shah Kazemi, CEO, presented 10 of those recipients with their awards in person at the company's corporate office in Watsonville, California. 

“This is a monumental event for all of 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. Shah said, “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.” 

Jacqui Pacheco, a Justice Studies major and senior at San Jose State University attended the in-person award ceremony alongside her parents to receive the Carl Victor Fields Scholarship. “I am working two jobs to be able to pay tuition for the upcoming semester along with other expenses. Being a first-generation student is hard as it is and trying to balance life and work is even harder,” Pacheco said.  “With this scholarship, I will be able to pay tuition for one semester, plus other expenses,” she added. 

For the past 32 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 scholarship recipients are from all Monterey Mushrooms locations including California, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Mexico. 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.” The scholarship program is one example. 

The scholarship 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, 2,541 grants have been awarded for a program total of more than $3.8 million. 

Scholarships are awarded to students who pursue higher education degrees at accredited colleges, universities, and vocational/technical schools. To apply, the student shares their educational background, academic goals and aspirations, school activities, work experience, and personal achievements.