Kids Cafe programs provide free meals and snacks to low-income children through a variety of community locations where children already congregate—such as Boys & Girls Clubs, churches or public schools. In addition to providing meals to kids, all Kids Cafe programs also offer a safe place, where under the supervision of trustworthy staff, a child can get involved in educational, recreational and social activities.
The program traces its origins to Savannah, Georgia in 1989, when two young brothers were discovered late one night in the kitchen of their housing project's community center. In response to this glaring example of child hunger, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Coastal Georgia started the first Kids Cafe. In 1993, Feeding America launched the national Kids Cafe program.
Get Involved
To get involved, check out the following Iowa food banks with Kids Cafe programs:
Northeast Iowa Food Bank
Waterloo, IA
Food Bank for the Heartland
Omaha, NE
River Bend Foodbank
Moline, IL