By Lupe Villaseñor, Insure.ag
I’ve spent my career in the tree fruit industry, and five years serving on the board of the Washington Apple Education Foundation. In that time, I’ve watched WAEF change lives, not just one at a time, but in ripples that come back to strengthen the very communities they started in.
People sometimes describe WAEF as a scholarship foundation, and that’s true, but it sells the organization short. WAEF is the charity of the tree fruit industry. It opens doors for the next generation of students in our communities, many of them first-generation college students who don’t have a roadmap for what comes next after high school. WAEF gives them that roadmap and walks alongside them while they follow it.
What makes WAEF different from a typical scholarship program is the depth of support. It’s not just a check and a handshake. WAEF helps students and their parents understand their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), pairs them with mentors who feel more like older siblings, and stays connected throughout their college years with multiple check-ins, care packages, resume help, and honest career conversations. The scholarships are renewable, and the organization understands that a tough semester in organic chemistry doesn’t define a student’s potential. If a student is struggling but putting in the work and asking for help, WAEF meets them where they are.
That kind of support produces real results. I see it in my own family.
My brother Jorge Villasenor and my sister Stephanie Olivera are both WAEF alumni and WSU graduates now building careers in agriculture. WAEF gave them not just financial support but the encouragement and guidance to find their footing, and both have stayed connected to the mission. Jorge serves on the WAEF scholarship committee, helping the next wave of students the same way he was helped. Our family is rooted in the tree fruit industry, and watching that cycle of support come full circle is one of the most meaningful things I’ve experienced in this work.
Stories like our family’s are not rare at WAEF. That’s what makes the Washington Apple Education Foundation so powerful. I’ve seen first-generation students go on to careers at organizations like NASA. I’ve seen families return to the program as volunteers and donors after their own children graduated. The cycle of opportunity and giving back is the heart of WAEF’s mission.
When I think about what inspires me most about WAEF, it’s not any single person; it’s the ecosystem. WAEF is made up of donors, mentors, board members, alumni, and industry partners who all play a role in lifting students up and pushing them forward professionally. No one piece works without the others. The mentors who guide a student through their freshman year, the donors who fund a renewable scholarship, the alumni who come back to serve on committees: together, they create something much bigger than any individual contribution.
As someone who represents crop insurance within our industry, I know how important it is that we invest in the people who will carry this work forward. The tree fruit industry thrives when its communities thrive, and WAEF is one of the most direct ways we make that happen. The generosity of donors is what makes it all possible. Every dollar creates an opportunity that comes back to strengthen our industry from the inside out.
Those ripples don’t happen by accident, they happen because people in this industry choose to invest in the next generation. If you’re looking for a way to give back that has real, lasting impact in the communities where we live and work, I’d encourage you to learn more at waef.org.