Kids Cafe                                                                                  

Fact Sheet
Kids Cafe

Program Overview
There are tens of thousands of children who go to bed hungry each night. Children without proper nutrition have difficulties concentrating in school, experience tardiness, and are more prone to chronic illness that can hinder proper growth development. By providing nutritious meals and snacks, Kids Cafe helps start children on the right path for success.

Launched nationally in 1993, there are currently more than 1,200 Kids Cafes operating in the United States through Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest-The Nation’s Food Bank Network).

The Houston Food Bank’s Kids Cafe program is a collaboration of area chefs, dietitians, students and volunteers.

• Kids enjoy meals and snacks after school.
• Children also receive food safety lessons, nutrition education and hands-on instruction to help create healthy lifestyles.
• In the summer, the number of children served doubles.
• Kids Cafe is one of the nation’s largest nutrition education programs providing children with the nourishment they may not get at home.
• The success of the local program has been overwhelming. Since opening the first site in 2000, the Food Bank has expanded into other locations.
  

How to get involved

• Kids Cafe plans to continue expanding to touch the lives of more children.
• Membership to an after school program is required to participate in Kids Cafe. (ex. Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston or YMCA.)
• Volunteers are needed for nutrition education at Kids Cafe sites; for example, professionals and students in dietetics, kinesiology and culinary arts.

To get involved, call Ann Svendsen Sanchez at 713-547-8663 or
e-mail asanchez@houstonfoodbank.org 

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