From 2017-2021, Mississippi State University's Department of Chemistry has hosted a 10-week summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, focused on research related to food, energy, and water security topics. The goals of this program were to train students by providing an intensive research experience, recruit minority and underrepresented students, and provide advising for future career goals. The program hosted a growing cohort of undergraduate students each summer, 113 in total, recruited from a pool of underrepresented students and those with limited research opportunities. The pre- and post-program survey results covering three summers showed consistent self-reported growth among the student cohort in the program's focused skill sets. This manuscript presents three years of the program's success, from initial planning stages and recruitment to final results including a description of the value of each program component.