12-year-old food pantry founder gets $20,000 grant

A 12-year-old Wayne County girl who founded a food pantry got public recognition Saturday and, more importantly from her perspective, $20,000 that will help pay for the group’s operating expenses for a year.

Kenzie Hinson was thrilled to get the $20,000 from Tyson Foods that will enable her to meet her food pantry’s expenses as it serves hungry people in Wayne, Sampson and Johnston counties. In just a year, Kenzie’s Make A Difference Food Pantry has grown from serving 35 families in a church fellowship hall to more than 1,000 people a month in rented space at a former market on U.S. 13 South in Goldsboro.

“Twenty thousand means a lot,” said Kenzie, who is president of the board of the food pantry. “It means I can feed a lot more people.”

Saturday was officially intended to be a Father’s Day Weekend BBQ Competition fundraiser for the food pantry. Famed Triangle pitmaster Ed Mitchell was among the judges at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fairgrounds.

But after the competition winners were named, Tyson Foods surprised Kenzie with the grant and a commercial freezer. Tyson Foods also donated a truckload of meat products to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, some of which will go to Kenzie’s pantry.

Kenzie is the second person to be named a Tyson Foods Meals That Matter Hero – part of the company’s pledge to invest $50 million by 2020 to fight hunger.

“We celebrate a young woman who saw a need in her community and she took action to make a difference,” said Annetta Tirey, director of corporate social responsibility for Arkansas-based Tyson Foods.

Paige Hinson, Kenzie’s mother, said the donation will ease the need for the frequent fundraisers that the pantry holds to cover expenses such as the rent.

The City of Goldsboro also proclaimed Saturday as “Kenzie Hinson Meals that Matter Day.” The state House is expected to honor Kenzie’s accomplishments this week.

Hunger in community

It’s the latest recognition for Kenzie, who said she was inspired to start the food pantry after giving a 4-H Club speech about hunger in the community. Kenzie said she was motivated to act after learning that one in three children and one in five elderly people in Wayne County don’t have enough to eat every day.

Kenzie, a seventh-grader who is homeschooled, said more kids her age would get involved if they knew the extent of the problem of hunger.

But Larry Morris, senior manager of agency services at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, said at Saturday’s ceremony that Kenzie stands out. The Food Bank has counted the Make A Difference Food Pantry as one of its partners since last summer.

“We often have kids who are Kenzie’s age who do food drives,” Morris said. “They might volunteer at the Food Bank, etc. But Kenzie truly went above and beyond the call of duty to serve her neighbors in need.”

In addition to working at the pantry, Kenzie delivers meals to seniors, packs backpacks of food for low-income children to take home during the school year and will start a program providing summer meals for students on summer break.

Paige Hinson said her daughter has touched the community’s desire to help those in need. The family lives in Grantham, an unincorporated community near Goldsboro

“We’re all really shocked at how fast it has grown and the people she’s got to volunteer and the outreach that she has had,” said Hinson, vice president of the board of the food pantry.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "12-year-old food pantry founder gets $20,000 grant."