1 of 2
Katie Stagliano
Photo by Mic Smith
2 of 2
The Starfish Throwers
Stagliano is one of three hunger fighters profiled in the documentary, The Starfish Throwers. See the trailer.
KATIE STAGLIANO
AGE: 15
HOMETOWN: Summerville
CLAIM TO FAME: Founder and chief executive gardener of Katie’s Krops
OTHER PURSUITS: Competes on the swim and track teams at Pinewood Preparatory School
FAVORITE VEGETABLE: Eggplant (Ichiban variety)
_____
School may be out, but 15-year-old Katie Stagliano won’t be idle this summer. As the founder and chief executive gardener of Katie’s Krops, a nonprofit organization encouraging youth to grow food for people in need, she has a busy season ahead of her.
This month, she’s hosting a summer camp for young gardeners at W.P. Rawl farms in Pelion. Her first book, Katie’s Cabbage, will be published soon by the University of South Carolina Press, and she’s one of three hunger fighters profiled in a new documentary, The Starfish Throwers. Plus, the flagship Katie’s Krops garden on the grounds of Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville will still need tending.
It all started with a third-grade gardening project. Stagliano was 8 when she grew a 40-pound cabbage in her family’s garden. She donated the mammoth veggie to Tri-County Family Ministries in Summerville, where it helped feed more than 200 people. Witnessing the impact of that one vegetable, she was inspired to do more.
Today, Stagliano and a team of volunteer gardeners raise tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, onions, beans, sweet potatoes and blueberries in a garden the size of a football field, donating their produce to local food pantries and patients at The Charleston Cancer Center. Thanks to the support of parents John and Stacy Stagliano and corporate sponsors including BI-LO the concept took hold and has inspired more than 80 Katie’s Krops gardens across the nation.
“I never thought that when I brought my cabbage seedling home that all of this would happen,” Katie Stagliano says. “I do think this is part of my mission in life, and I want to do it for as long as I can, but it’s also about inspiring other kids to find their passion so that they can make a difference.”