South Carolina

Katie Stagliano

Age: 15
Hometown: Summerville
Cause: Healthy produce for low-income families

Participating in a school gardening project in the third grade, Katie Stagliano grew a cabbage that topped out at 40 pounds. At her father’s encouragement, Stagliano donated the cabbage to a soup kitchen, where it helped feed 275 people. After realizing how many people one (very large) cabbage could feed, she decided to see how many people one garden could feed. Using a football-field-sized plot of land that her school donated, Stagliano created Katie’s Krops to get other kids interested in helping people through gardening. Six years later, that garden supplies food directly to families in need and to churches, shelters and soup kitchens around the state. But like that cabbage, Katie’s Krops has grown far bigger. Through its website, Katie's Krops has raised almost $200,000 — individual and corporate donations enable 9-to-16-year to grow vegetables to feed the hungry in their community. Currently there are 75 youth-run gardens in 27 states. Katie’s goal now: 500 gardens in 50 states.

Says Stagliano:

I am proud to grow healthy food, prevent hunger and empower kids to grow a healthy end to hunger in their communities."