At MA'O Organic Farms on the Wai'anae Coast, it's all about growing food and growing youth.

Thanks to a recent scholarship program funded by the Thomas J. Vincent Foundation, that mission has been expanded to help young interns at MA'O earn four-year college degrees.

Under a partnership between MA'O and Leeward Community College, student interns receive tuition and a monthly stipend for their first two years at LCC.

"The idea is to hold onto them and support them to get their associate of arts degrees," said Summer Miles, MA'O's director of education.

Beginning in the spring, student interns who wish to continue their education at one of the University of Hawai'i's four-year campuses — Manoa, West O'ahu or Hilo — will have their tuition paid for by the foundation.

"We want this to become an incentive to get kids to finish their third and fourth years (of college)," said Chairman Tom Vincent, who started the foundation 20 years ago to provide assistance for the education and rehabilitation of youth.

The scholarship will cover tuition expenses for two or three upper-class college student interns, who will continue to work on the farm while in school.

"When Tom came out, he added a critical link," said Miles, who said that providing interns with the opportunity to continue their education will allow them to better themselves and return to the community to give back.

"We really value higher education, and providing a way for these kids to move on is critical," she said.

MA'O Organic Farms employs middle school- to college-age youth who are predominantly Native Hawaiian and live on the Wai'anae Coast.

"We have interns that didn't realize college was possible until they came to us. Most come from families that don't value education and didn't go to college," said Miles, who added that the farm also provides interns with "a major peer support group, kind of like a place of refuge."

MA'O's college program, which supports 30 students ages 18 to 24, provides most of the farm's work force. College interns help to co-manage every aspect of the farming process, from planting and nurturing organic crops to harvesting, packing, delivering and selling produce. Students also host visitors, attend national and international conferences, and learn about Native Hawaiian culture and farming protocol.

"I'm totally impressed by MA'O," said Vincent, who hopes that the program will ultimately yield "a bunch of better-educated kids and more help from the community in order to do that."

While much of MA'O's youth program is supported by grants, partnerships and scholarships, the goal is to develop the farm enough that it will become a self-sustaining operation. MA'O is expanding from five acres to 16 after acquiring 11 more acres this year.

"More land basically means more kids that we can employ and support," said Miles.