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How Much Longer Can One Man Feed Millions?

avatar By Jeanne Goddard

05 Feb 2014 43 views
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How Much Longer Can One Man Feed Millions?
It was in 1984 that John Jacko Garrett, age 70, first began donating a portion of his harvest each year to charity. Today, the second-generation rice farmer from Danbury, a tiny farm town of 1,700 southeast of Houston, is a legend. He's a legend thanks to the almost six million pounds of rice he's donated to the Houston Foodbank, and the millions upon millions of free meals created from that rice.

A second-generation rice farmer from Danbury, a tiny Texas town of 1700, is a local legend.

He's a legend thanks to the almost six million pounds of rice he's donated to the Houston Foodbank, and the millions upon millions of free meals created from that rice. 

It was in 1984 that John "Jacko" Garrett, age 70, first began donating a portion of his harvest each year to charity.

In the late 1990's he set up a non-profit called Share the Harvest to provide a means for rice farmers like himself in Texas to easily feed the hungry.

 

"Their donations have been vital," according to the Houston Foodbank. "They provide over 11 million servings of rice each year in 18 counties around Houston."

Garrett has also run the charity himself, and with his daughter, for a time. He is worried today that he might not have time or energy to carry on much longer.

— READ the story in the Houstonian Magazine

— Watch a video below from the food bank

SHARE the story about this Inspiring Farmer, below… / Story tip from Angela Reed

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