NORTHEAST OHIO Teenager's idea of gardening to feed needy grows to aid troubled youth

Kristen Stryker is one of three finalists in the Volvo for Life Awards.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Kristen Stryker wanted to grow more than tomatoes and zucchini.
So the 18-year-old took something she's been doing since she was 10 -- giving away vegetables to food pantries -- and expanded the idea to create a program that teaches gardening and life skills to troubled youth at a juvenile correction facility.
The result: Some of the inmates' cynical behaviors changed, with many clamoring for the chance to dig in the dirt. Stryker then successfully lobbied state officials to expand her program to all 12 of Ohio's youth facilities.
"I wanted them to learn a new skill, and it gave them the pride of planting a seed and watching it grow and helping others," said Stryker, of Canton Township in Northeast Ohio.
So far, 23 more states have shown interest in her program, called Help Others to Help Yourself, for which Stryker has written a 15-page how-to pamphlet on gardening.
Recognition
Her work has earned her recognition as one of the nation's top hometown heroes in the second annual Volvo for Life Awards. Volvo Cars of North America sponsors the awards, which recognize the exceptional public service of ordinary people.
Stryker beat out nearly 3,000 nominees, including 59 Ohioans.
Her work has earned plenty of other accolades. In 2002, President Bush commended her in a ceremony honoring the nation's top volunteers. In a private conversation, Bush encouraged Stryker, chosen from 28,000 applicants, to pursue her dream of expanding the program nationwide.
She recalls with pride that Bush told her the program would be "good for the youth of today."
Praise from Bush was nice, but she continues to get the most motivation from her brother, who was in and out of jail before he died in September of leukemia.
"I just hope that juveniles like him will change so they don't end up like him, spending their lives in jail," she said.
In the fall, Stryker, a senior at Canton South High School, plans to study biochemistry at Oklahoma State University.
In mom's footsteps
Over the years, Stryker's gardens have produced thousands of pounds of produce that have fed the hungry. Her mother is a gardener, and for as long as Stryker can remember, she has been at her mother's side cultivating the earth and coaxing the plants.
Her mother laughs as she tells the story of how she once temporarily banned her 3-year-old daughter from the garden after she uprooted all the bean plants instead of the weeds.
Stryker donated $50,000 she received for the Volvo award to the Garden Writers Association's Plant a Row for the Hungry, a national campaign that inspired Stryker's youth program.
The finalists for the Volvo awards were chosen in three categories: the environment, safety and quality of life. Stryker won the environment category.
On Wednesday night, from the three, a grand winner will be crowned "America's Greatest Hometown Hero" in New York. The winner will receive a new Volvo car every three years for life.