Kids Programs
Through our Kids Cafe after-school meal sites, the Food Bank provides children at risk of hunger with the nutrition they need to support growth, development and academic success.
Meet Our Community Nutrition Team
Yesenia Barnier
Director of Community Nutrition
Yesenia Barnier is the Director of Community Nutrition at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. She is a Rhode Island College graduate with a degree that integrates the fields of education, wellness, and public health. In addition to her background and experience, Yesenia is bilingual in Spanish and English. She was born and raised in Rhode Island and is passionate about giving back to the community that helped to raise her. In 2017, her passion for nutrition and drive for community work led her to an internship with the Healthy Habits team that eventually turned into a full-time position. Now, Yesenia leads our Kids Cafe program and childhood nutrition programming.
Nahami King
Kitchen Manager
Nahami King is the Kitchen Manager at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Kids Cafe program. Nahami is an alumnus of our former culinary job training program, Community Kitchen. From there, she worked with Aramark where she mastered the art of cooking by providing daily meals for over 700 children in Cranston’s public elementary school system. In 2021, Nahami was hired by the Food Bank to create and produce meals for the children of our partner Kids Cafe sites. She shares her knowledge of spices and flavors from East Africa and is bilingual in Kiswahili. Nahami’s ability to transform any ingredient into a delicious and healthy meal is inspiring!
Flannery Whatley
Community Nutrition Manager
Flannery Sullivan is the Community Nutrition Manager at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. She moved to Rhode Island from Maryland in 2016, following her love of feeding and taking care of others to study Culinary Nutrition at Johnson & Wales University. Flannery also received a Master of Science in Nutrition Education from American University in August of 2022. Flannery completed her nutrition internship with the Food Bank in the summer of 2019 where she realized how much she loved working, cooking and learning together with the different communities in Rhode Island. Shortly after graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree from JWU, became a full-time member of the nutrition education team at the Food Bank, taking on the role of manager in the summer of 2022.
Ronald Lewis
Production Chef
Ronald Lewis is a Production Chef at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Kids Cafe program. Ron was born and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado until he joined the Navy and was stationed on the USS Wasp out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island. After his time in the Navy, Ron trained and worked as a chef in local restaurants in Wakefield and West Warwick. Ron joined the Food Bank in 2002, as a Chef Instructor for our former culinary job training program, Community Kitchen. Chef Ron is proud to share that some of his Community Kitchen graduates went on to open their own restaurants! Now, along with Chef Nahami, Chef Ron brings his years of culinary experience and passion for food to the Kids Cafe program, helping to feed hundreds of kids nutritious and tasty after-school meals every day.
Dee Lopes
Production Chef
Andrea Aguilar
Community Nutrition Coordinator
Layleen Suero
Community Nutrition Coordinator
Sarah Dias
Production Chef
