Youth Gardener Grows Food for the Hungry

In the fight against hunger, some of us get started a little earlier than others. In the case of Texas teenager Ian McKenna, he got going when he was just eight years old. That's when Ian learned that some of his Austin classmates were going without meals. And that's when he got the idea to grow a garden and donate food to his hungry neighbors.

Ian and Addison McKenna will donate all of this garden bounty — and more! — to help feed the hungry in their community.

Ian has been at it for several years now, donating all of his garden bounty and starting three other gardens at area schools to do the same.  One of those gardens alone provided 1,000 pounds of produce in one year!  A garden can be a powerful thing. 

Ian has help from a group called, "Katie's Krops," which supports and teaches youngsters to plant what we call Giving Gardens. All the food these kids grow gets donated! 

You can do it, too.  What should you grow?  As part of our Garden to Give campaign, we've developed a Giving Garden plan in our free, online Kitchen Garden Planner. And if you have questions about where, when or how to donate your produce, check out our Garden to Give page.   

Ian is part of a powerful, nationwide network of youth gardeners who are donating all their garden produce to the hungry. It's called Katie's Krops, and we're thrilled to be partnering with them in their hunger-relief efforts.