Bobalu Berry Farms is celebrating its third year of awarding scholarships to graduating high school seniors, a program established in 2022 to honor the company’s founders on their 60th anniversary. This initiative has grown to include more students from high schools in Oxnard and Santa Maria, California, as well as the children of employees.

This year, Bobalu Berry Farms transitioned the application process to an online format, enhancing accessibility for students to complete applications and submit required documents. The company also boosted the incentive for employee children to apply by increasing communication at farm offices and adapting the online form to include employee documentation. With over 40 applications received, the staff scholarship committee faced a challenging task in selecting the recipients.

The merit-based program primarily focuses on academic performance but also considers students’ philanthropic activities and their commitment to agricultural majors. “With each student deserving a scholarship, we really have to focus on those uniquely positioned as ag majors and those that may not be getting other scholarships to help with financial support,” said RC Jones of Bobalu. “We were very pleased this year to have multiple students pursuing a degree in ag, and to have a student that is a child of one of our long-time employees in Oxnard.”

All the scholarship recipients are the first in their families to attend college and expressed their gratitude in essays for the support from their families, teachers, and school counselors. The students are set to attend prestigious institutions such as Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, Berkeley, and UCLA. Several recipients will begin their higher education journey at community colleges before transferring to universities.

Maria de la Cruz, Bobalu’s HR director, highlighted the rewarding nature of the selection process, stating, “Members of our staff committee really enjoy the opportunity to be part of this process each year and select recipients as a team. Even more, we are truly honored to attend each high school award ceremony and personally present awards to very deserving students on stage. Selecting students on paper, based on qualifications, is one thing but meeting them and their families in person takes this program to a whole other level for us.”

Bobby and RC Jones expressed their honor in supporting the 14 students awarded scholarships this year, who rely on external financial assistance. They both voiced their gratitude for the ability to continue this program, which honors their grandparents who established Bobalu Berry Farms 62 years ago. As stated in the note from The Produce News, this scholarship initiative not only supports the educational aspirations of deserving students but also strengthens the community ties that Bobalu Berry Farms cherishes deeply.