Charlotte Shields-Rossi | staff writer

Growing up, Duquesne student Kari Ann Leventopoulos spent her Sunday mornings carrying cans to her local church for their food bank — something she always did with a smile on her face.

“My parents instilled in me that doing community service and helping others makes you feel good too,” Leventopoulos said. “I was always happy to know I was helping other people.”

Leventopoulos’ passion to end people’s fight against hunger didn’t stop there.

In eighth grade, she founded her ongoing community service initiative called “Feed the Need to End Hunger,” which helped to organize food drives. She also became a Panera Bread donation volunteer, collecting bread and pastries from the stores at the end of the day and donating them to soup kitchens. During her freshman year of high school, Leventopoulos realized she wanted to be more engaged with the topic of fighting hunger.

“I really wanted to reach those elementary-aged kids because that’s when you get involved. I think that if you get involved at a young age then you’ll continue to get involved as you grow up,” she said.

That’s when the freshman biochemistry major came up with the idea to write a children’s book titled “Henry Is Hungry.” The book was eventually published in 2021.

The children’s book follows a young boy named Henry, who likes to play and learn. His family works hard, but they don’t have enough money for food. The end of the book explains how children can get involved in helping people like Henry by hosting food drives and donating food. Leventopoulos would read the book to children in local libraries as well as donate the book to schools asking teachers to read it to children during story hour.

“It’s not just people experiencing homelessness or people you might think are stereotypically affected by food insecurity. It can be anyone. It can be your classmates, neighbors and teachers. People you wouldn’t suspect having these issues,” Leventopoulos said.

Leventopoulos sold hundreds of copies of “Henry is Hungry” through Amazon and local bookstores. But it’s not about making money for her. All the sales that Leventopoulos makes go directly into fighting hunger, whether that be printing more copies to be donated to schools across the country or giving to food-related charities.

“It is really fulfilling to see my message being told to all these younger-kids, being able to see how it is affecting them for good,” Leventopoulos said.

Once she created the dialogue for the book, she called on her sister, Katrina Verdone, to help her with the illustrations. With a passion for art and community service, Verdone accepted the task.

One afternoon, Verdone and Leventopoulos sat down in the kitchen with art supplies and pages of notes. They talked about what medium they would use for the artwork, the design and what illustrations matched the words.

“This is going to be targeted toward a younger demographic, so I was really thinking about what is going to be eye-catching for kids who will be looking at these pictures while their parents read to them,” Verdone said.

Verdone expressed her enjoyment in creating the artwork, but she said that it was an emotional process.

“I would think this is so cute I’m drawing a wilted flower, but then you remember the bigger thing that it represents [sadness],” Verdone said. “It’s always hard to think about the type of issues people are facing and the reason Kari has this platform to begin with. You get sad and remember that this is the way we can try to do something about it. It kind of pulls you back.”

Verdone was not the only family member who was an integral part of the process of writing the book. Rebecca Leventopoulos, the sisters’ mother and Duquesne alumna instilled her daughter’s passion for community service. She understood the importance of the book and was the sounding board for her throughout the writing process.

“The message is something lasting. It’s wonderful that it’s a message for children because as children grow up they live what they learn. If you teach them something at an early age they remember it,” Rebecca said.

One way that she helped her daughter was by taking pictures of her when she would visit local libraries to read “Henry is Hungry” to children. Kari would then use those photos for her professional and community engagement social media.

“I have personally witnessed the happiness that this book brings to children. They just love the idea that they can help,” her mom said.