2 days ago
WWII Vet Grows Food for Hungry Kids—And Still Helps at Age 96!
Can you help these kids? They have nothing to eat!' a social worker told WWII veteran William 'Bill' Brown. He and his wife, Verna, had been fostering children in their Bronson, Florida, town for many years and knew the struggles they faced.
Nobody should go hungry! Bill thought, his heart moved. I'll do anything to help them.
He had a lifelong passion for gardening that was instilled in him by his mother during the Great Depression, Bill and Verna had bought a property with 20 acres to grow crops like beans, peppers and corn.
Thinking back on the life lessons his mother had taught him, Bill remembered sharing okra, peas, beans, onions and collard greens from the Mississippi farm where he grew up with all of his neighbors. Planting and picking the crops with the family was a favorite pastime, and Bill knew just what he could do to help.
'We can feed kids with food from our huge garden!' Bill decided, telling Verna his plans.
Week after week, the couple fed more and more families in need with fresh vegetables they grew themselves.
'This is really something,' Bill smiled, realizing the impact they were making. 'What if we make it an official food bank? We can call it The Children's Table!'
Bill and Verna decided to grow peas, potatoes, squash, mustard greens, collard greens, onions, garlic and cucumbers. 'And we'll never ask customers any questions or require proof of income. The Children's Table is for everyone.'
In the early 1990s, the Browns launched their food bank, which serves many food deserts in rural areas around Levy County, Florida, and surrounding counties with more than 1.5 million meals each year.
In Florida's warm climate, they can harvest vegetables year-round, and they usually plant seeds that take about 90 days to mature. People who come to The Children's Table for food assistance receive both fresh produce from the garden and regular shelf-stable foods common at food pantries, such as canned goods, pasta, cereal and oatmeal.
The organization now uses its own volunteer-run, 5-acre garden to grow all the vegetables. While Mr. Bill has retired from the grueling gardening labor, he is still active as president of The Children's Table and is beloved by the community. He even visits the operations manager, Stacey Kile, in her office each day, asking, 'What's going on today?'
The main telephone for The Children's Table is connected to his hearing aid, and even now, at age 96, Mr. Bill is willing to respond to hunger calls in the early morning hours to deliver food to families in need—anytime, anywhere.
I wonder if there's a way to do even more, the kindhearted Mr. Bill thought one day as he dreamed of making an even bigger impact in his community.
Before long, The Children's Table launched its Helping Hand program to provide a $500 check for people in the area who are facing hardships—like a house fire, a sick child or unexpected expenses.
Over the past three decades, Mr. Bill has occasionally had the privilege of serving more than one generation of a family. Many years ago, he brought food to a father who couldn't work due to an injury. Then, years later, a young man came to The Children's Table with a donation and said, 'You don't know me, but when I was a young boy, you came to our house with food!'
'There is nobody anywhere else I know who would do what he has done,' Stacey says of Mr. Bill. 'He has touched thousands of lives. There are certain places you can't go and mention his name without people saying, 'Oh, I know Bill Brown!''
'These people come and we love them, and they know we love them,' Bill's wife, Verna, says. 'When we meet someone and they recognize us and thank us, you can just feel their sincerity.'
As for what drives Mr. Bill to help meet so many needs year after year: 'I just wanted to help someone who needs help,' he says, his heart continuing to fill with gratitude for the chance to serve and meet a need. 'We're not always able to take care of the whole situation, but we are at least always there to let them know that we care.'
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