Lizbeth Huapilla Makes the Most of Everchanging Circumstances

"Great things happen to those who don't stop believing, trying, learning and being grateful."    

~ Roy T. Bennett, Author

Lizbeth Huapilla is an 18-year-old, well-regarded senior at Immokalee High School. She is also the third of four children, ages 14 to 26, in her tightly knit migrant family. Her parents, Genaro and Rosa Huapilla, are farmworkers who moved to America from Mexico. As with many couples, they came seeking work and better educational opportunities for their family.

As a high school freshman, Lizbeth was accepted into The Immokalee Foundation in 2018. Excited yet nervous, she knew The Foundation's goal was to help with financial scholarships and college admission. But she received so much more. Alongside the counseling, career panels, field trips, networking receptions, and access to top industry professionals, Lizbeth's Foundation mentors and supporters also proved that "it never hurts to try."

Lizbeth lives in Immokalee part of the year, then as harvest shifts, she and her family travel to Tallahassee, North Carolina, and Tennessee to follow the work.

The Huapilla children share the challenges of regular moves and adjusting to new schools. Luckily, the affable Lizbeth has learned to make new friends while adjusting to the demands of each new school.

Constant changes create unique difficulties – language, shifting curriculum levels, and new teachers. Yet, Lizbeth still does her part to contribute financially in support of her family. This includes working alongside her parents, picking tomatoes in the fields.

Lizbeth is inspired by her parent's proven ability to overcome early struggles when they first came to the United States. Plus, her family has supplied even more role models whom she calls her "superheroes."

Her older sister just earned her master's degree in accounting from the University of South Florida and her brother studies business management at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Lizbeth's prized list of superheroes includes family back in Mexico. Some run a hospital, another owns a café, and one is a journalist. Lizbeth believes that – collectively - her immediate and extended family have helped to make the world a better place. She plans on doing the same.

Over the past three years, Lizbeth has immersed herself in the Immokalee Foundation's resources and considers the staff her family too. Four "Career Pathways" lie in wait for Foundation students to choose, as they consider the range of rewarding, high-demand positions in Southwest Florida.

Since 2019, she has been participating in The Foundation's Business Management and Entrepreneurship Career Pathway.

Adding more support, Lizbeth was recently assigned a mentor from The Foundation, Araceli Moreno. In addition to her role at the Foundation, Araceli volunteers her time to mentor Lizbeth with one-on-one weekly meetings. "My role as a mentor is to guide my students not only professionally but personally,” said Moreno. "In Lizbeth's case, I can attest that she is a very hardworking and determined young girl who devotes her time to her family's well-being. With her passion for helping others, I do not doubt that she will accomplish great things."

What's more, Lizbeth participated in the Foundation's summer camp hosted by the FGCU Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. This event culminated in The Immokalee Foundation's version of the reality television series "Shark Tank."

Launched in 2019, The Foundation's Shark Tank helps students prepare for a successful business career by identifying a problem, solution, business model, and presentation. The results are evaluated by an impressive panel of local business leaders.

In 2019, Lizbeth's team won second place for "Decorate," a proposed party planner business inspired by actual experiences planning a Quinceanera. In the 2020 competition, Lizbeth was team leader, taking third place for "The Future of Families," a business concept focused on providing migrant families with basic needs during their transition to life in the United States.

College is on the horizon. So, to help with expenses, Lizbeth has been accepted into the Take Stock in Children program. Take Stock operates across Florida to offer students the opportunity to earn a two- or four-year college scholarship. As the local affiliate, The Immokalee Foundation provides students with academic support and mentoring from middle school through high school to help them achieve Take Stock scholarships.

And if her schedule wasn't already busy enough, Lizbeth also works after school as a tutor for the Foundation's Immokalee Readers youth literacy program.

With her extraordinary drive and determination, we are confident that great things will happen to Lizbeth. Why? Because she won't stop believing, trying, learning OR being grateful.

We are simply grateful she crossed our path.

"Eye on Immokalee" is a student profile series from The Immokalee Foundation.

To learn more about becoming a mentor, volunteering as a career panel speaker or host, donating, or including the Foundation in your estate plans, call 239-430-9122 or visit ImmokaleeFoundation.org.