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Please describe how you have helped others.
I have helped others by starting large vegetable gardens and donating the whole harvest to feed people in need. I make direct donations of healthy vegetables that I grow to soup kitchens, homeless shelters and directly to families in risk of hunger. I currently have six vegetable gardens. Fresh vegetables are such an important part of a healthy diet but due to the high cost they are often not a staple of the diet of people who are risk of hunger. My most recent garden was started at my local homeless shelter where the residents of the shelter help tend to the garden and help grow what they will eat. In addition to my gardens I also host fresh vegetable and food drives to try and raise awareness of the problem of hunger and how gardening is a fun way to prevent hunger.
How long have you been involved in this effort? Please include a start date and end date if applicable. When and how often do you volunteer?
My efforts started in May 2008 and have continued to grow. In the summer of 2009 I started Katie’s Krops my not-for-profit organization to start and maintain vegetable gardens where the harvest is donate to people in need. Until hunger is no longer a problem in the world I will not stop working to try and prevent it! I work daily on my gardens, watering, fertilizing, harvesting, weeding and preventing pest from eating my crops. I also work learning everything I need to know about gardening with the help of a Master Gardener.
What was the outcome? For example, funds raised, the number of coats collected for needy kids during winter, the number of community members who supported your cause, etc.
I am very proud to say I have donated thousands of pounds (over 3,500) of food to people in need. I have raised $15,000 in monetary donations to fund the gardens and I have collected over $10,000 in material donations such as 5,000 vegetable seedlings as well as a tiller and a cultivator. I have enlisted the help of hundreds of volunteers, mainly kids. What makes my gardens so special is that they are sustainable and will continue to give back. It is hard to estimate how many people I have helped to feed but I would guess the numbers are in the thousands. I now have six vegetable gardens and want to start a garden in every state to feed people who need healthy food to eat.
Why did you decide to volunteer your time?
I knew I wanted to start vegetable gardens when I was in the third grade and brought home a tiny cabbage seedling from the Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program. I planted it, cared for it, even built a cage around it when I heard that there were deer in the neighborhood. When my cabbage was fully grow it weighted in at an amazing 40 pounds. I knew it was special and wanted to do something special with it so I donated it a soup kitchen where it helped to feed 275 people. I helped to serve my cabbage to so many people who thanked me for helping them. When I walked away from the soup kitchen I knew I had to do more and if one cabbage could feed 275 people imagine how many people a whole garden could feed.
What have you learned from this experience?
I have learned that they are tens of millions of people in our country who do not have enough food to eat and that even if I am only 11-years-old I can do something to help. Gardening is a fun and easy way we can stop hunger. I’ve learned so many new gardening techniques and even how to run a not-for-profit organization. I’ve also learned that anyone can help and support a cause they believe in. I’ve learned this at first hand because of all the amazing people out there are willing to give and help. When I first started gardening, I never imagined I would make this big of an impact in the fight against hunger.
If you win the $1,000 charitable contribution, how do you plan to spend it helping the community?
If I am selected to win the $1,000 I will split the funds to start two new gardens not in my neighborhood but to aid other towns. I want to get other kids from all across the county to help. These funds could help start a vegetable garden at school just like mine and inspire other students to give back to people in need in their community. I would also like to find another homeless shelter that has the land to start a garden to help support the residents of the shelter. The money would help pay for gardening tools, fertilizer, seeds and seedlings, compost to start the garden and a fence to protect that garden. A large portion on these expenses would be one time expenses and the money required to continue to maintain the garden in the future would be minimal. The thousand dollars would create two sustainable gardens that would have the potential to feed so many people in need.
What advice do you have to share with other kids who are interested in spreading happiness through community service?
My advice for others is to follow your heart. If you find a cause you truly believe in, you should do your best to help and you will make others happy as well as yourself. There is nothing that creates more happiness then to see a smile on someone’s face when you help someone who is truly in need. Doing something to help others makes your heart happy!
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