The heat in Mole Saint Nicole, Haiti was thick, heavy with the weight of 500 years of history. In January 1991 Karl Leiber, Jerry Lantz, and Terry Estes stood among the ruins of the remote Haitian village where Christopher Columbus had first stepped ashore on December 6, 1492. Scattered about them were the grim reminders of a colonial pass – broken fortified walls, discarded cannons, and rusting cannonballs half buried in the dirt, reminence of an era designed only to strip the island of its massive wealth.

The remains of the fortified area in Mo Saint Nicole scattered for Miles along the ocean front.

The three men were part of a large larger team called to build a 40 x 100‘ community center, school, and church it was to be constructed in literal and figurative shadow of the early Catholic Church, now completely abandoned.Survival here required strict, military-like precision. With no roads or infrastructure – only rugged foot pass and dry river beds – everything had to be brought in. They’re home for the next two weeks was an unfinished, two-story house intended for the local pastor, where all 20 team members fit tightly. They brought all of their own food, bedding, lumber, blocks, nails and screws. The instructions were clear; focus on the building and do not distribute food. We have enough exactly to keep the team healthy and working for 10 days. Two days travel in, 10 days of grilling labor, and two days of travel out. For a distance of 150 miles it seems impossible but it was true. Traveling at speeds of 1-5 mph most of the time.

40 x 100‘ building progressing

But reality quickly collided with instructions. Every hour of the day, the team was surrounded by starving, desperate people. Parents begged a man to take their children back to America just for a chance of a better life. Even the voodoo witch doctors came out to place curses on our team. They pleaded for a crumb, a scrap, a single drop of anything. After several days the trash of paper plates, cups, spoon, forks, cans and all remains of left overs we were instructed to bury the trash so that the locals couldn’t rummage through it and make a massive environmental mess. But it didn’t work, the locals took everything out, licked the plates and cans and ate the remains of everything to make a massive American mess Strown across a pristine, tropical area. Cups, plates, cans littered for miles as they ate and left the area. So the leadership instructed us to burn the trash and so we did, but the starving people went into the fire and ran into the bush with plates and trash on fire. I was now instructed to guard the burning trash with a club so this trash fire could finish.

Voodoo witch doctor and demons placing curses on our team.

Yet, the building proceeded with concise forward motion. The team mixed concrete directly on the ground to pour the floor, laid concrete blocks recently fabricated under a nearby palm tree, nailed roof trust together, and hung windows frames and shutters. And every time the team sat down to eat, a crowd of helpless men women and children watched with absolute amazement at the excess food being consumed just feet away.

Then the day came that changed everything. A wave of screaming and hollering erupted near the center of the compound when a Haitian boy, about 10 years old, stumbled into the area. He had been here every day. Usually, locals were quickly ushered away, but this time was different. The boy collapsed, his body violently shaking as he began foaming at the mouth.

The team’s medical personnel rushed to him and it was immediately clear; he was in the final, agonizing stages of starvation. They administered moisture and tiny meter doses of food, slowly nursing him back from the edge of death.

For Karl, the moment was a sharp, piercing arrow to the heart. Just the day before, this exact boy had begged Karl to be his father, crying out that he was hungry and had no one. Following protocol, Karl had run him off of the compound. Now, looking at the boy's frail body, Karl came face-to-face with a profound truth: he was being called to mercy, not sacrifice.

Three men witnessed the same heartbreaking scene from different reference points. But their conclusion was unanimous; we can do better than this. Never again will this occur on our watch.

True to their word, that day birthed a lifelong mission. Every year, the men returned to the remote corners of the world – Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Peru, Mexico, Africa, India, Kosovo and Guatemala. Only now they didn’t just bring tools for construction they brought goats, chickens, rice, beans, pasta, and emergency relief funds. They dug wells, built water catchments, installed filtration systems and breathed encouragement into every community they touched.

In 1992 a fourth man named Layne Konneman joined the team. Layne caught the vision instantly. A common diesel mechanic by trade, he quickly became the team‘s most indispensable asset. In the most remote, unforgiving parts of the world, Layne kept aging military vehicles and machinery running against all odds, always ensuring that the team made it back home safely.

More champions joined the cause over the years. Bruce Hill, an American Airlines captain, arrived in 1996, becoming an intricate part of Kids Against Hunger and a Global Compassion Ministries. Every single volunteer who joined locally or internationally was cherished: the original three felt like kissing their feet just for their willingness to partner in such a difficult, but critical task.

By 2009, the mission evolved again. Jerry Lantz, came up with a revolutionary idea: a highly nutritious, common, easily shippable meal formulated to have a three-year shelf life. Along with his wife Marilyn Jerry began packing meals at his home out of his garage in Cottleville, Missouri. Jerry began Kids Against Hunger and packaged the specialized meals right from their own community. The mathematically balanced blend of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and essential vitamins became a literal lifeline. It was a formula specifically engineered to reverse the effects of severe malnutrition and starving children – the very thing they had witnessed in that young Haitian boy nearly 2 decades earlier

Kids Against Hunger meals feeding those living in the garbage dump in Nairobi Kenya.

With the infrastructure they had spent years building they filled shipping containers packing with millions of these life-saving meals and began moving across the globe. When the catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, the team was uniquely positioned to respond, flooding the disaster zones with food and clean water systems when the people needed it the most. Food is used in local relief from our food pantry to disasters in St. Louis tornado, Rock Away Beach, South Dakota Indian reservation, Burnsville North Carolina hurricane Helena, war torn Congo, June 4, 2026 devastating earthquake in Venezuela.

USAF delivering 250,000 meals in Port au Prince, Haiti.

What began in 1991 is three men holding hammers and trowels in the shadow of an abandoned ruin transformed into a massive global network of Hope. Karl, Jerry, Terry, Layne, Bruce and hundreds of volunteers prove that a single movement of shared heartbreak, when met with relentless action, can change the trajectory of countless lives. They refused to look at a way, and because of that choice millions of children around the world were given hope.

A story was told years ago of a young boy who was walking along the ocean shore after a recent storm throwing starfish back into the water. An old man witnessed this and watched as the boy deliberately walked, throwing the starfish back in one by one. The old man approached the boy and asked what he was doing, and the boy said “ I’m saving their life, If they stay out here they’ll die,” and he threw the starfish back into the water. The old man said that there are 1000s of starfish you can’t make a difference. You can’t save them all. The young boy picked up another starfish, threw it in the water and said, “well, it made a difference to that one.”

Terry Estes, Jerry Lantz, Denna Lantz and Karl Leiber January 1991 Port Au Prince, Haiti day before heading to Mole St. Nicolas

In 2017 another strong team member took over the reins of Kids Against Hunger, Dan Vincent was now the acting Director Kids Against Hunger Saint Peters and continued to operate successfully and clearly with the same passion and zeal as the original members. In 2020 when Covid had struck our country Kids Against Hunger had to pause its operation for safety and other reasons. It was at that time that Dan felt it necessary not to hinder the mission in any way and so he stepped down as director allowing the ministry to maintain while little or no food was shipped.

Harbor in Mole St. Nicolas, Haiti

Terry Estes and Jerry Lantz in the garage where it all started. September 2026.

Global Compassion Ministries continued to hold Kids Against Hunger together until the storm of COVID past. As a board member and constant ali Karl maintained the vision and original passion, the man behind the curtain, as he would like to call himself; he maintained the integrity of this ministry while seeking guidance and help from Global Compassion Ministries leadership. A full-time director was being sought but a part-time leader arrived, Steve Williams. Steve along with his wife Marybelle, are a passionate team of faith, a well-traveled missionary couple to multiple countries. In January 2027 Steve will become full-time Director of Kids Against Hunger St. Peter’s. Steve was gainfully employed as a TSA manager and supervisor but his passion for souls across the world compelled him to step away from the TSA and fulfill his lifelong dream as a Director of Kids Against Hunger.

Brian Braidensteiner left, Steve Williams right

In 2024 Kids Against Hunger received another incredible blessing from a small but powerful source a 14-year-old girl who got hold of the vision immediately as she was helping to pack food with her family, she determined that what could I do and she answered the question by starting Katie‘s plant stand selling plants in front of her home for one week. The money raised would go to the needs of Kids Against Hunger. Katie continued on every year for one week she would sell the plants that she raised by seed, nurtured, watered and sunlight. Katie’s father Dan would say their house is like a greenhouse, but he was proud of his daughter and proud of her vision and wanted to encourage her. In 2026 Katie set an all-time record high raising  $ 6,921.00 for the needs of others, a selfless act by a small person with a powerful vision that’s the type of people God uses to do great exploits.

Steve Williams, Karl Leiber, Katie Foust, Terry Estes and Dan Foust

Since 2015 Kids Against Hunger St. Peters has packed, shipped and delivered over 5.6 million meals with over 26,500 volunteers.

All of the original members are still actively passionately, working together to alleviate suffering, and making smooth spots on rough roads for people all over the world.