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Kids Cafe

Ten years ago, two young brothers were discovered, alone and after hours, eating fruit and drinking milk in a Savannah, GA community center. They broke in looking for food to fill their hungry stomachs. When presented with this urgent need, local government and food bank officials joined forces to open the nation’s first soup kitchen just for children. Kids Cafe, which aims to feed at-risk children a nutritious evening meal, was developed from this effort.

Kids Cafe is now a program of America’s Second Harvest, the national network of more than 200 food banks. Locally, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank developed a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs to address the food needs of club members. Many of the children arrive at the clubs after school and are not picked up until 8:00 or 9:00 at night, missing dinner because their parents are working. Others may not receive an evening meal because their families are not able to provide one. Currently, 15 percent of Rhode Island’s children are living in poverty.

In Rhode Island, Kids Cafe serves wholesome evening meals to children at risk of hunger, supplementing the federal School Breakfast and School Lunch programs. Kids Cafe is currently feeding over 700 children at 12 sites: five in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence; one at the Sackett Street Recreation Center in Providence; four at Providence Schools; and two at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County.

Meals for Kids Cafe are prepared by the Food Bank’s Community Kitchen program. Community Kitchen is a culinary training program that prepares unemployed adults for employment in the food service industry.