Kids Feeding Kids in Columbia County to knock out hunger

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Thousands of kids across Florida go hungry every year, and their parents don't know where to turn. Columbia County is taking steps to change it and is hoping other counties will join in.

John Cole saw a need three years ago when some of his students weren't getting enough to eat at home and their hunger was spilling over into the classroom. Cole is the director of the Kids Feeding Kids Program.

The idea at Richardson Middle School in Columbia County started with a seed and grew into something big. Hundreds of kids are getting the growing skills and good nutrition they otherwise might not have gotten at the school.

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"A child that is hungry and a child that doesn't know where his next meal is coming from can't learn," Cole said.

Cole then launched the Kids Feeding Kids Program. The program started with a few potatoes being grown on campus and soon will include greens, turnips, lettuce and other fresh fruits and veggies.

Cole knew the basics as an agriculture teacher. Now, he's teaching middle school helpers, like Allison Truesdale.

"It's that feeling you get when you realize you did something good," Trusedale said.

Cole calls the students who are sent home with a bag of food for the weekend "backpack kids." For many of those students, it's the only source of food they'll have.

"It'd be really cool for kids to be able to know that the food they're eating in the lunchroom is food that was grown here," Cole said.

Cole and his group don't always see who goes home with food, but they’re happy to do their part by knocking out hunger and creating a better learning environment for kids.

"At the end of all this, it was going to pay off," said Cole. "There was going to be something to show for it."

The materials and the plan to add a new greenhouse to the existing one is in place, along with a new shade house. The new area will give Richardson Middle School the ability to house up to 800 plants.

The ultimate goal is for every school in the district to have their own crop-producing greenhouse.

WJAX