Eatonville Boys & Girls Club’s Kids Cafe welcomed over 120 youngsters with a hot afterschool meal on its opening day. The club sits in the heart of historic Eatonville; the nation’s oldest established African-American township. It is a stone’s throw from Hungerford Elementary and draws more than 200 students from nearby elementary, middle, and high schools.

Joyce Davis, who prepared  the meals, tell us that before Kids Cafe, children would receive small snacks consisting of bagels or cheese perhaps two or three times weekly, without regularity.

Second Harvest Food Bank, with the support of the Winter Park Health Foundation, has made it possible for these children to rely on a wholesome meal each and every day while school is in session. During the summer, Second Harvest will sponsor the club so that it may participate in the Summer Food Service Program which helps bridge the nutritional gap when children lack access to school cafeterias.

The club can now access a wide variety of food product from our main warehouse. Nutritional education will also be provided starting in early February.  Since children’s diets are generally a function of what happens at home, our hope is that the children will influence their parents by recounting what they learn at the club.  Menu tips, dietary guidelines and support will also be provided to the club’s cook.

We are extremely pleased with the first day’s turnout and expect a significant increase by week’s end.

Thanks to the Winter Park Health Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, Deb Watson, Austin Long, Rod Bargaineer, and Joyce Davis for their enthusiasm and support as we worked closely to make this happen!

View a map of our 13 Kids Cafes in 3 counties: Second Harvest Food Bank Kids Cafes >>

Photos from opening day:

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Manager

Santa came early in the form of Walt Disney. Walt Disney World Resort presented us a check for $30,000 for our Kids Cafes!

Disney continues to be such a great corporate citizen and does so much behind the scenes. These funds will be instrumental in providing for our 13 Kids Cafes.

Without Disney’s help we would not be able to provide meals to 164,000 kids throughout the year. The children are our future and there’s nothing more basic than providing healthy nutritious foods for their development.

Click here to learn more about our Kids Cafe Program.

Thank you Disney!

Dave Krepcho
President & CEO

Your support of Second Harvest Food Bank has made an impact in lives of thousands of Central Florida seniors, children, and families this past year.

Here’s a look at our accomplishments:

- Second Harvest distributed 24,764,248 pounds of food to more than 500 partner feeding programs in our 6 county-wide service area.

- Our Kids Cafe program served, prepared or catered meals to 164,155 children at 13 kids cafe’s in 3 counties.

- During the summer, we served 43,188 meals for school age children at 17 sites in Orange County through our Summer Feeding program. Through a grant from ConAgra we were also able to provide the kids with 15,773 take-home, shelf-stable food packs for the weekends.

- Our Hi-Five Kids packs program distributed 31,245 shelf-stable food packs to needy children at 18 elementary schools. These packs are designed to help bridge the nutritional gap that exists during weekends, when children lack access to school cafeterias.

- An amazing 1,227,100 pounds of non-perishable grocery products were collected in fiscal 2009/2010 through our Community Food Drives.

- Our Benefits Connection program secured over $14 million in food stamp benefits for Central Floridians. In addition to food stamp benefits, our specialists also signed clients up for Medicaid and Cash Assistance, and provided referrals to a network of collaborating agencies.

- Second Harvest Food Bank set up an online advocacy center and urged congressional leaders to fully fund and pass Child Nutrition Reauthorization. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill was passed last week in Congress!

Whether you volunteered, gave a special gift, contacted your elected officials, or simply were part of our online community, YOU helped thousands of Central Floridians this year. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dave Krepcho
President & CEO

Thanks to each of you who called their representatives, the House passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. This bill invests an additional $4.5 billion over the next 10 years in childhood nutrition programs that will have a direct impact in Second Harvest’s own Childhood Hunger Programs.

 - We provide snacks to 13 after school programs through Kids Café. With this new legislation, we will be able to be reimbursed for more substantial meals. We will now be able to offer even more food to many more children through this enhanced afterschool supper program.

- How can kids learn on an empty stomach? School breakfast programs offer at risk children meals before the start of each school day. Unfortunately many schools do not have the opportunity to participate in the program. The act expands school funding to start more of these programs nationwide.

- Easier access to free and reduced price lunches. Many efficiencies will be made to take some of the paperwork out of the eligibility process for lunches.

- State Childhood Hunger Strategies will be fostered through a new challenge grant program.I’m excited to see what new child-hunger concepts will be developed in the next decade through this program.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act has much more to it including nutrition education and higher standards for school meals. The next step for the bill is being signed off on by the President.

Be sure to thank your legislators for passing this bill and doing their part in Fighting Hunger in Central Florida.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs

Update: President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free America Act into law on Tuesday, December 14, 2010.

I’m pleased to announce that our trio Childhood Hunger programs received a Victory Against Hunger Award from the Congressional Hunger Center, Victory Wholesale Group and Feeding America.

We reached a record number of children through our Kids Cafe, Hi-Five, and Summer Food programs in the last year and it is always a pleasure to be recognized for our work.

A breakdown of the 3 programs:

Kids Cafes
           At 13 After School sites in 3 counties, 164,155 prepared or catered meals were served in fiscal 2009/2010. This reflects a 12% increase over the previous year. An average of 910 children were served daily.

Summer Food Program
           During 51 operational days while children in needy areas lacked access to school lunch programs, 43,188 meals were served at 17 sites in Orange County this past summer, reflecting an increase of 9% over last year. Through a grant from ConAgra we were also able to provide the children with , 15,773 take-home, shelf-stable food packs for the weekends.

Hi-Five Kids Pack Program
          31,245 shelf-stable food packs were provided to needy children at 18 elementary schools last year. These packs are designed to help bridge the nutritional gap that exists during weekends, when children lack access to school cafeterias.

The Congressional Hunger Center (CHC) is a bipartisan anti-hunger leadership training organization located in Washington, DC. In addition to the fellowships they offer, the CHC facilitates the national discussion of finding ways to end hunger in America.

It’s nice to be able to take a break from our workday and be honored, but there’s always more work to get back to. We continue to see more and more children enrolled in our programs and there’s much more to do. Can you help?

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs
bkoch@foodbankcentralflorida.org

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Many people today are overwhelmed and frustrated with what seem to be unfixable problems, or things out of their control. Just look around at the Gulf oil spill and its long-term effects, a Gainesville pastor’s stance on the Quran, congressional issues and so many more examples, including in our own personal lives. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find something we could wrap our own hands around and make a difference?

There is a pressing problem that we all can rally around and do something about: hunger in our community. The ongoing economic situation, unemployment, under-employment and plummeting retirement accounts and property values have all created a perfect storm for emergency food assistance among a large portion of the population.

Last year, Second Harvest Food Bank’s Hunger Study showed that about 25 percent of Central Florida’s population received food assistance. That’s 732,000 people, and nearly 300,000 are children. That’s a problem. What can you do about it?

September is Hunger Action Month, an effort to fight hunger. The only way we can close the gap is with continued community assistance. You can seek out a number of local organizations that could use your support in terms of volunteering, financial assistance or food donations

At Second Harvest Food Bank, we offer you “30 Ways in 30 Days,” with activities ranging from food drives and a Junior League Harvest Hustle to our Portraits of Hunger photo contest.

All are designed to provide support for people in need and offer a variety of levels of engagement. If you can’t take action in September, the problem will still be here in October.

Everyone can help. Here’s one poignant example: One day an elementary-school girl named Alli saw some of her classmates Dumpster diving. That night, she cried to her mom that they must do something about the situation. Alli came up with a plan and in a few months raised $5,000 to help start a new Second Harvest Kids Café downtown.

To this day, that café continues to provide thousands of meals to children. Alli’s a reminder to all of us — young and old, wealthy or not — that each of us can find a way to take meaningful action in the fight against hunger. It’s a problem that can be solved.

We can make a tangible impact upon hunger relief because every can of soup, box of cereal, volunteer hour or dollar donated translates into one of the most basic needs of every person — food. Please consider taking action; it’s good for the community, and it’s good for the soul.

Dave Krepcho is president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

A teacher looking at a classroom full of children on the first day of school might have a difficult time determining who would be in need of food assistance. The free and reduced school breakfast and lunch program, our Hi-Five weekend program, and our Kids Cafe afterschool program all help get food to these children.

There are common warning signs to look for like lethargy, inability to concentrate, and aggression, but it can still be challenging to identify the need.

A new study published this month in the journal Pediatrics, by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers examined whether the time-consuming, 18-question Household Food Security Survey provided by the federal government could be shortened and still be effective in identifying hungry children.

They found that there were two questions you could ask that would be as effective as the entire 18 question survey.

Simple Two-Question Survey Can Better Identify Hungry Children

This is a great start to brainstorming exercises we’ve started internally to find ways to enhance our childhood programs.

What do you think of the findings of this study?

I had the great pleasure of attending the Great American Pie Festival April 24th and 25th in Celebration. Which basically meant good bye Pound for Pound Challenge, hello delicious pie!

Apple, pecan, key lime, cherry, French silk, you name it … I tasted it! So you might be asking, “So what does this have to do with Second Harvest?” Well the folks at the Pie Council and Village Inn care so much about Second Harvest Food Bank’s Kids Café program, that they dedicate some fun activities to raise funds for our afterschool program.

There were buckets spread out throughout the festival for pie lovers to drop donations into. There was a great booth set up where kids can give a dollar to participate in a “Pie Walk” similar to a cake walk, where they could win a free Village Inn Pie!

Finally, the Pièce de résistance…the 4 ft in diameter pie! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life???

It was a chocolate cookie crust with a chocolate ganache and cream cheese filling…with fantastic local grown strawberries, raspberries, and wild blueberries in a glaze with fresh whipped cream on top!

Each piece of this pie was sold for a donation to Second Harvest. It was a hit! All of these great fundraisers brought in over $500!

In food bank math, we are able to provide up to $4,500 in buying power to feed our neighbors in need. We are so happy and thankful to have such a great partnership with the Pie Council and Village Inn!

Check out this great video to see the other yummy things that went on during the weekend!

Are you interested in coming out to the Pie Festival next year? Keep checking our events page every so often so you don’t miss out on the fun!

In the mean time, take a look at our other events coming up…we’d love to see you there!

Until next time!

Sasha Hausman
Events Specialist