Giving Compass' Take:

• Medium interviews MacKenzie Hinson, a fourteen year old from North Carolina who is feeding millions of people in need with her organization called Make a Difference Pantry.

• How can this story help inspire other young advocates of social causes? How can donors help support organizations like MacKenzie's?

• To learn more about high impact opportunities in fighting hunger, click here. 

A giant shout-out to every kid who has seen a problem they wanted to solve. Every girl who felt underestimated or was told to leave change-making to the grown ups. Meet MacKenzie (Kenzie) Hinson, and know that you don’t need adulthood to take action. You don’t even need a driver’s license.

“It’s a little crazy,” Kenzie told the girls’ mentorship platform Être, “I have four vehicles in my name so we can transport our food, but I can’t drive any of them!” We had to learn more.

Ê: OK, start at the beginning. You were ten years old and just decided to open a food pantry?

K: Pretty much! I gave a speech for my 4-H club called “Hunger In Our Community,” and learned that 54 percent of my community was food insecure. But those were statistics. Then I volunteered in a food pantry and met the people. And that changed everything. I told my mom I wanted to build a new kind of pantry.

Ê: What did you mean?

K: I wanted a place where people weren’t embarrassed to go for food. A place that looked liked an actual grocery store and had lots of healthy food choices. I pictured bright colors, friendly people and a place where families could shop for what they needed. It’s not just about the food — it’s about how you make people feel. So that’s just what I set out to do with the Make a Difference Food Pantry.

Read the full article about MacKenzie (Kenzie) Hinson's inspiring story by Illana Raia at Medium.