P.O. Box 948153
Maitland, FL 32794
www.ffva.com

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ray Gilmer or Barbara Wunder 321-214-5200

FFVA MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. DONATES $100,000 TO FLORIDA FRUIT & VEGETABLE FOUNDATION

Maitland, Fla. (January 21, 2005) - Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA) Mutual Insurance Company contributed $100,000 January 21 to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Research & Education Foundation. Morgan Roe, chairman of FFVA Mutual Insurance Company's board of directors, and Craig Menzl, FFVA Mutual Insurance Company president and CEO, presented a check for the amount to FFVA Chairman Tony DiMare at FFVA's winter board of directors' meeting at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate.
The Foundation funds programs that benefit growers of specialty crops as well as the communities in which they operate.

"The foundation makes possible agricultural research and grower education programs that help Florida's fruit and vegetable industry remain competitive," said Roe. "Moreover, the foundation channels funding to programs that directly benefit the farmworker community with education, child care and other family services."

Those programs include the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA), a provider of daycare and educational initiatives to children of migrant farmworkers; the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, which develops the talents and abilities of future agriculture industry leaders; and Hurricane Farmworker
Relief, through which the Foundation recently contributed $50,000 to assist Catholic Charities of Venice, Florida, in its efforts to develop an innovative, rural, mixed-use community for low-income farmworkers and their families.

FFVA Mutual Insurance also donated $100,000 to the Foundation last year.
"We're very grateful to FFVA Mutual Insurance for its generous support of the Foundation's programs," said DiMare. "Their generous partnership with the foundation has already helped hundreds of fruit and vegetable growers and benefited farmworker families across Florida."

Florida Fruit & Vegetable Research & Education 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 entire Florida specialty crops industry and society as a whole. Specialty crop producers provide oversight to the Foundation.

FFVA Mutual Insurance Co. is one of Florida's oldest and largest workers' compensation carriers, providing unmatched leadership and service to policyholders in the Southeast.
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, located in Maitland, is an agricultural trade organization representing Florida's producers of fruits, vegetables and other crops.

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