KIDS CAFE

Each year our nine Kids Cafes serve over 74,000 meals to hunger at-risk children. In Douglas County alone, close to 17,000 children live below the poverty line. Kids Cafe is one of the nation's largest free meal service programs for children. Since the program's inception in 1993, Kids Cafes have become a central tool in our efforts to end childhood hunger.

To give some perspective, there are now more Kids Cafes in the United States than IHOP Restaurants! The goal of our Kids Cafe program is not only to provide an evening meal to kids who are at risk of being hungry, but to also provide a safe haven after school where staff and volunteers provide homework help, tutoring, mentoring, education in social skills and recreation. Kids Cafes across the country achieve this goal by utilizing existing community resources. In the Omaha metro area, The Food Bank works with the following locations to provide a Kids Cafe:

• Ruth K. Solomon Center for Girls
• Camp Fire USA at Gomez-Heritage School
• Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership (ENCAP)
• The Hope Center for Kids
• Youth Empowerment Program located at Turning Point
• Boys & Girls Club, Carter Lake, IA
• Salvation Army North Corps
• South Omaha YMCA
• Boys & Girls Club, Council Bluffs, IA

For information on starting a Kids Cafe, please contact Nancy Lee, our Program Director.