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Young gardener gets Clinton award

Katie Stagliano

Katie Stagliano of Katie's Krops

NEW YORK CITY — Former President Bill Clinton gave one of his global citizen awards this week to Katie Stagliano, the 14-year-old founder of Katie’s Krops, a South Carolina-based organization that starts and maintains vegetable gardens and donates the harvest to the needy.

Stagliano became the youngest-ever recipient of the awards, which are presented annually at the Clinton Global Initiative conference.

In a video shown at the event, Stagliano explained that when she was 9, she received a cabbage seed, which she planted. It grew into a 40-pound cabbage, which she donated a soup kitchen where it fed 275 people, inspiring her to start other gardens.

After accepting the award from actor Matt Damon, Stagliano said, she was “stunned” to receive it, and that her dream is “to end hunger one vegetable garden at a time."”

There are now 51 “Katie’s Krops” gardens in 21 states, and she hopes to eventually have gardens in all 50.

Stagliano sits on the youth advisory board of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.