March 2, 2022 | When she was a child, Lorena Gutierrez and her family would travel across the state of Florida for employment. They would trek to farms across the state to work the fields harvesting various crops including strawberries.

“When we were younger, and teenagers we used to pick, we used to be pickers,” said Lorena, who has been a parishioner of St. Clement Parish in Plant City since she was five.

The Florida native met and married Elias Gutierrez, a fellow crop picker whose family immigrated from Mexico. The couple, along with Elias’ brother Daniel, worked their way up from picking strawberries to being the owners of two successful strawberry farms in Hillsborough County, Fl., Gutierrez Family Farm and Sunripe Grower.

“Thanks to our Lord we arrived here as immigrants and today we have the grace to give work to approximately 150 immigrants in the harvest season. That shows us God is guiding our business and our family,” said Elias.

The farmers are strawberry suppliers to their parish’s biggest fundraiser, the Saint Clement Catholic Church “Make Your Own” Strawberry Shortcake Project. Each year, parishioners run the most popular booth at the annual Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City and sell about 100 thousand strawberry shortcakes every year. Kevin McFall a booth coordinator, credits their success to the quality of the strawberries used.

“Strawberries being a perishable commodity, we need the freshest. Our berries are picked on day one, and eaten by the third day,” he said.

The Gutierrez family is happy to provide their best crops for the ministry above all else, although they could make a bigger profit selling their strawberries to others.

“For us to give God a little of how much He gives us, is a way to thank Him and also to be able to help with the needs of the parish,” said Elias. “I definitely believe that it is the Almighty who has brought us to this land with a purpose. Little by little we have been following His design.”

For Lorena, the hard work is worth it to be able to help in the ministry, all the while sharing her family’s fresh grown strawberries with fair visitors.

“It's a good feeling knowing that we have a little bit of that part that makes those people smile and enjoy the berries,” she said.

The St. Clement “Make Your Own” Strawberry Shortcake project began in 1974 and this year will mark their 48th anniversary.

The 2022 Florida Strawberry Festival will run March 3 – March 13. Booth organizers say volunteers are greatly needed this year as they return following a year off due to the pandemic. All interested in volunteering can find more information at https://www.stclementpc.org/-make-your-own--strawberry-shortcake-project