About Us
The founders of Flores Fruits have given over 30 years of service in the growing business that is overseen by and operated with the support of their children and grandchildren. A multigenerational business that is still run with the care of a family-friendly environment that focuses on quality fruits and excellence of service.
Elion and Maria Flores have participated as community leaders over the last 40 years. Their service to their community has included food distribution, outreach ministries, hosting ministers in their homes, House of Peace prayer gatherings, and other services through their local congregations. Their home welcomed individuals for major events that housed at a time up to 16 individuals at one time. The leaders would come from all over the world to refresh their ministry through gatherings put on by King Jesus Ministries (Rey Jesus). Maria has also done several pilgrimages through the years to relatives and neighbors still in Cuba packed with humanitarian aid.
Elion and Maria grew their construction business bidding on contracts that included Miami Int. Airport, Homestead Air Base, courthouses, schools, churches, banks, custom homes for specialty clients, production stars, and of course multifamily buildings and large community individual homes. Additional projects also included work done in the country of Aruba and as far north in Florida as the Palm Beaches.
"As the peak of hurricane season nears, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports for TODAY on the 30-year anniversary of Hurricane Andrew. Survivors of the storm reflect on the catastrophe that destroyed 65,000 homes and left 175,000 homeless." Hurricane Andrew, 30 Years Later: NBC's Kerry Sanders Looks Back
The Flores' were living in the Redlands, Florida in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew impacted the area. Their custom home underwent severe storm damage losing 5 custom bay windows that exploded during the storm. The sudden action of storm winds in the home swept away all the furniture in their 3 living room areas and blew open their double entry doors. The home was a shelter to over 30 individuals which included children, young adults, the elderly, and a few pets. While the night was very traumatic there was a perpetual spirit of hope that bonded them to pray through the night and hope in the divine. Everyone survived the night and eventually found permanent living accommodations.
Elion and Maria were among the leaders to assist their neighbors in the rebuilding process by allowing their home to be the shelter for 30 members of the community during the storm and after, allowing in the weeks after the storm to use their home as a communication center, joined their local congregation in distribution supplies and utilized their construction company to help families and businesses rebuild their homes and community. After Hurricane Andrew, they purchased homes as investments. By 1998 they acquired a home that had been burned to the foundation. They purchased and built a custom on the land and developed the land with agricultural lands. With over 2 acreages of land, the grove of over 300 exotic plants which produces thousands of fruits annually that they sell to the general public.
ABOUT ELION FLORES
Elion is a native of the U.S. territory, of Puerto Rico. He left the island at the age of 16 and traveled to New York. He became a journeyman in construction learning all areas of the trade. During his early years, he became employed as a civilian contractor and conducted work at West Point Academy. He later moved to Miami where he met Maria and shortly after they were married. He excelled in his construction business and did several contract jobs overseas including for one of the Saudi Princes while stationed at the American Base during the late 1970s. Upon his return, he purchased his first home with Maria and opened his own business in construction. He continued to grow his business while they also ventured in opening their own general merchandise store in Homestead, Florida. They managed their small businesses for several years. Over the next year, he built his first personal custom home in the Redlands.
ABOUT MARIA FLORES (ROSELL Y SALAZAR)
Maria was born in Varadero, Cuba. She migrated to the U.S. in 1962 with her parents and siblings. Elion and Maria are parents to two children and four grandchildren. She began her career in accounting for companies such as Colonial Press and Textiles.
Eventually, she began to study Operating Room Technician. Due to a change in the education institution policies she was unable to graduate and was forced to change her field of studies to medical assistant. She continued her career working at the Hialeah Hospital Emergency Room and a doctor's office. Shortly after she met the man that would change her future.
Maria continued her education in Real Estate and went on to help her husband create the business that would generate a lifetime of business ventures. She blessed those around her with generosity, financial support, spiritual guidance, and made an impact on the lives of many of those around her. She is the head of an Ancestry tree venture which has grown to over 50,000 ancestors and created a social media group to build a network of relatives and genealogy enthusiasts who share information online. This venture introduced her to possible relatives from all over the world and began her first contact with the ministers she and Elion would sponsor by host home during their visit to the U.S. for spiritual conferences through King Jesus Ministries (Rey Jesus).
She continues her business ventures with her immediate family and continues to bless her community.
"BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN"
Maria was born in Varadero, Cuba. In 1962, her father gathered his children and other relatives to escape the changing regime and formulate an escape for Florida. Her father was a ship captain with his own fishing business and a store which was located in Matanzas, Cuba. He had captained at one point in his life for a Senator that traveled to Cuba. His business and family life rotated around such family names as the Kennedys and Dupont. On this night, he gathered his family in two boats left under disguise and secretly went into the water straights between Florida and Cuba. After traveling the waters through the night their boat began to take on water but was eventually rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to Key West.
Maria was only 13 years old when her family left behind all their belongings and businesses for a new life in the U.S. This photograph shows Maria's sister, brothers, and father arriving in Key West. The photograph was part of an article conducted for the 'Look" Magazine and later entered into the "Library of Congress"
