This is the story of a 9-year-old girl named Katie and her 40-pound cabbage. No, this is no nursery rhyme or fairy tale but a very real and sweet reality. Katie brought home a small cabbage seed from a project she had in her third-grade classroom in South Carolina.
She took great care of the cabbage plant and nurtured it until it grew…and grew….and grew. Little did anyone realize, the small vegetable would soon grow to an unbelievable size and make an impact on the community as well.
Katie knew when her cabbage hit a whopping 40 pounds that there was something special about it. She did a good deed and donated it to a soup kitchen. The 40-pound vegetable fed over 275 people at the food kitchen. Katie was thrilled to see the impact her home-grown vegetable made and decided she wanted to continue helping people – and Katie’s Krops was born.
The young girl decided to start a vegetable garden so that she could continue growing her own veggies. She then would donate the produce from her garden to a food kitchen to feed the needy. Now her self-made project has 100 gardens across the country. The program’s mission is to put youth at the forefront of feeding the hungry by having kids grow vegetables in gardens and donate the harvests. The process is amazing. Young kids can see the impact of growing a simple vegetable. It allows kids also to get involved in the community and help the less fortunate. Katie’s Krops is fighting food insecurity from the front lines.
In Summerville, South Carolina, a group of children in 2016 spent 628 hours preparing and serving over 2,000 meals at 12 different dinners. Once a month the youth volunteers harvest their produce from the gardens and make a veggie-filled meal for the hungry. A volunteer head chef leads them along and helps them turn their homegrown vegetables into a fabulous and nutritious meal. The menu for the dinners is created from the food the children harvest and any other ingredients needed are purchased to complete the meal thoroughly. Each dinner serves almost 200 meals. The dinner guests are typically families facing food insecurity, homelessness, unemployment and life hardships.
Since Katie’s success, a book was written about her admirable efforts. It is called Katie’s Cabbage. The book won the Carol D. Reiser Children’s Book Award in 2015. The award recognizes books that inspire community service and children to volunteer. Katie’s story is unique and amazing. Not many young kids grow vegetables. Not many young kids grow 40 POUND vegetables. And furthermore, not many young kids think of the idea to donate to help the needy.
Katie’s Krops is now an established non-profit organization located in Summerville, South Carolina. Individuals can volunteer with Katie’s Krops or sponsor a dinner. The program is fantastic to empower youth and introduce them to the world of volunteering. It’s truly amazing to see the impact of one small girl and her incredible green thumb.
Watch Her Tell Her Story From An Early Age!
Video Courtesy: YouTube via Nation Swell
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Source: Katie’s Krops and UC Food Observer
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