On August 24th classes began for most students in Central Florida, and that’s precisely when our Kids Cafe after School Meal Program rolled out for the 17th consecutive year.
The Kids Cafe Program operates during the entirety of the academic year, providing nutritious, five-component meals to children 18 or under at eligible centers in low income, at-risk communities.
In the last 3 years, our Kids Cafes have served 587,696 meals to approximately 1,300 children daily at 13 locations in 3 counties. Since the program began in 1998, more than 1.7 million meals have been served. The program has shown significant growth since 2013 and plans are underway to not only expand, but to continue improving our menus by adding more fresh fruit and vegetables.
Kids Cafes are closed during summer recess; that’s when our Summer Food Program seamlessly transitions to address the nutritional needs of kids who lack access to school cafeterias.
In addition to Kids Cafes, Second Harvest partners with elementary schools to provide students with shelf-stable, weekend food packs. The timing of these programs create a nutritional continuum for children and youth 18 years of age or under.
In Florida, over one million children live in households that are food insecure. In many cases, the only daily, reliable meal kids get is at school. Our Kids Cafes ensure they have something to eat in the late afternoon. Kids Cafes also offer enrichment activities in safe havens where children can feed both body and mind.
To learn more about childhood hunger and food insecurity, follow this link: Hunger in America
To see the location of our current Kids Cafes, follow this link: Kids Cafes 2015
The Kids Cafe Program is formally known as the Child Care Food Program (CCFP) and is overseen, subsidized, and regulated by the Department of Health’s Bureau of Child Care Food Programs.