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Kids serving kids

by Randy Bishop

After seeing a commercial urging children to help their community, second-grader Sagen Woolery wanted to start an animal shelter in her backyard. But the thought of a menagerie of abandoned cats and dogs behind the house didn't appeal to her mother.

Not giving up her idealism, Sagen developed a better plan. She thought about needy students who receive free lunches and wondered what they did during the summers. She knew she could help, and this time her mother Pam pitched in, too.

Pam remembered Sam Guimond, a man at their church, Sacred Heart Catholic in Warner-Robbins, Georgia, who ran a soup kitchen at the First Methodist Church. So, she introduced Sagen to him. He wasn't sure that a second-grader could handle the task, Sagen says, but her persistence convinced him.

After many months of planning, Sagen finally opened her Kids' Kitchen at the Methodist church during the 1998 summer, following fourth grade. With donations from the Macon Food Bank, her staff of child workers (8- to 12-year-olds) served lunches to between 200 and 300 kids each Wednesday. The next summer, Kids' Kitchen served about 3,600 lunches, she says, again featuring a classic menu with favorites like ham and cheese, fresh fruit, and cookies.

Last year, Sagen closed the kitchen because of health problems. She has severe scoliosis and, for the next four years, must wear a body brace 20 hours a day. "It really hurt me that I wasn't able to do my kitchen last summer," she says. "I really love it."

Sagen, now 13, has continued charitable work by helping Christmas for Kids, a local charity that helps foster children during the holidays. Kids' Kitchen has garnered several awards, including one from Lands' End, which donated $5,000 to Christmas for Kids in Sagen's name.

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