FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                                                                      CONTACT: 
                                                                               Lisa Lochridge or Barbara Wunder
                                                                                                                   321-214-5200

PLANT CITY STUDENT RECEIVES FIRST GEORGE F. SORN SCHOLARSHIP

MAITLAND, Fla. (Sept. 24, 2007) –  The Florida Specialty Crop Foundation presented its first George F. Sorn scholarship Sept. 18 to Nanci Palacios, a graduate of Durant High School in Plant City.
Nanci achieved a 5.0 grade point average and an impressive list of honors. Active in community service, Nanci is attending Hillsborough Community College with the goal of enrolling at the University of South Florida to pursue a medical career.

“Sons and daughters of farmworkers are viewed as inferior by some people,” Nanci wrote in her application for the scholarship. “Many times people jump ahead and make assumptions about us. Sometimes people criticize without knowing the true history behind each individual. It’s up to us, as migrant sons and daughters, to prove them wrong and demonstrate that we too can be leaders to be followed.”

The scholarship is named for Sorn, a respected industry veteran who has dedicated himself to improving the lives of Florida’s farmworkers and their children. The foundation instituted the scholarship this year to benefit deserving high school graduates who are children of farmworkers in Florida’s specialty crop industry.

The Florida Specialty Crop Foundation was established in 1991 to address specialty crop growers' scientific and knowledge needs in the production, marketing, transportation and consumption of fruits and vegetables. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, the Foundation operates to benefit the Florida specialty crops industry and society as a whole. Specialty crop producers provide oversight to the Foundation.

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Editors note: Digital photos available by emailing barbara.wunder@ffva.com.