Public service a lifestyle for volunteer

After two years in the Peace Corps and now in her second year as a FoodCorps service member, Katie Wheeler is a bona fide public servant committed to the idea of sustainability.

“I’m a public service junkie,” Wheeler said.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Wheeler graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and majored in psychology and social work. Now living in Kalispell, Wheeler hopes to stay after finishing her FoodCorps service in August. Although her parents live in Pennsylvania, she has a brother in Arlee.

“I love it here. I never felt more a part of a community then I do here in Kalispell,” Wheeler said.

After the 27-year-old completed her term in the Peace Corps, she traveled for a few weeks around Turkey before coming back to America and joining the FoodCorps. FoodCorps is a nationwide service program focused on teaching, engaging and increasing access to healthy foods mainly through community and school gardens.

While in the Peace Corps, Wheeler was assigned to serve in mountainous Kyrgyzstan, an underdeveloped country located in central Asia.

“I wanted to work abroad and through this manner I would have support coming from the U.S. government. That was important. There were bad things happening while we were there. There was a revolution and a coup,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler was speaking about the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution, which occurred during her second year in the small country. Riots and demonstrations were regular occurrences. Eventually, Kyrgyzstan’s president was ousted.

Living in the northeast countryside Wheeler said she was safer than Peace Corps volunteers living in the southern area of the country, where most of the violence was happening and where several volunteers were evacuated. But as an American female, Wheeler had to stay on guard and be prepared for possible evacuation.

“All volunteers had to be packed up in case of evacuation and say goodbye not knowing if you’re coming back or not,” Wheeler said. “Three times that happened. It made starting projects hard not knowing if you’re leaving for good, and mentally exhausting not knowing if you’ll see people again.”

Among the approximately 60 Peace Corps volunteers, about 25 completed the 27-month terms, she said.

“Some didn’t have a choice. Others chose to leave. The country was politically unstable,” Wheeler said.

As part of her Peace Corps work, Wheeler worked with a youth volunteer organization that offered free programs to children. Wheeler expanded the programs and developed a new one called “Youth Mountain Club.”

Through a grant, Wheeler was able to fund seven journeys into the mountains for 10 high school students through a grant. The trips started as day outings and progressed to overnight trips, culminating with a five-day stay.

“It was awesome. The mountains are gorgeous,” Wheeler said. “There were virtually no trails. We were living at 6,000 feet and climbed to 12,500 feet.”

Extra equipment was also purchased with grants to rent out to tourists and raise money to keep the program sustainable after she left.

Wheeler ended her Peace Corps service with a mural project at an orphanage with about 49 children. Together, they painted the Earth, with each country labeled in Russian.

“It looks great. It was the perfect project to end on,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler came back to America with a solid understanding of one thing.

“It’s really not hard to live below your means,” she said.

She then decided to join FoodCorps after reading the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver, about the author’s family subsisting on locally produced food for a year.

“The book inspired a new way of thinking for me,” Wheeler said.

Working at a farmers market during her senior year of college also motivated her.

For her second year in FoodCorps, Wheeler is working with Kalispell Public Schools. Tuesday morning, she had just finished teaching a nutrition class at Elrod Elementary. Elrod is also the site of a school vegetable garden, planted in April. The garden has three raised beds where vegetable and strawberries are grown.

“The only rule is they have to eat what they pick,” Wheeler said of the students.

The school gardens have increased interest in eating vegetables, she said.

“If kids plant the seeds and see it grow, they’re that much more likely to want to try it,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler hopes to plant two more gardens at elementary schools before her FoodCorps term is up.

In the future, Wheeler wants a career establishing food security — a family or individual’s ability to regularly access a healthy food to meet dietary needs — for Montana families, and helping end childhood hunger.

“Everyone deserves access to healthy food, especially children,” Wheeler said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.