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Whether she’s donating vegetables or working with kids in correctional facilities, 18-year-old Kristen Striker is no stranger to community service.

As a young teen-ager, Kristen became involved with the Garden Writers Association's Plant-A-Row for the Hungry Program. This program encourages gardeners to donate their excess produce to local food banks and homeless shelters. Through this program, Kristen donated her produce to the Allegheny Indian Center. She convinced others to sign up, including some of the local 4H clubs. Then, she had a brilliant idea of expanding the program on a much larger scale.

In the spring of 2001, Kristen (then 15 years old) instituted a gardening community service project in all 12 youth correctional facilities in the state of Ohio This program involves teaching young people gardening skills, and inspiring them to give the produce to the needy in their communities. In addition to feeding the hungry, the program also rewards good behavior among inmates – if the incarcerated young people behave while they are in the correctional facilities, they receive gardening privileges and a chance to get outside.

Kristen spent a lot of her time during the summer between her junior and senior years of high school visiting youth prisons to encourage the inmates who were participating in her program. In December 2002, she met with President Bush at the White House and received the President's Community Volunteer Award. With his encouragement, Kristen has been working to get her program instituted in the other 49 states. So far 23 of those states have shown interest in the plan.

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