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

With the holidays rapidly approaching, most of us are preparing for a time of celebration and gift-giving. Yet for many children attending Central Florida Public Schools, this season will prove to be a particularly difficult one.

As many as 222,000* Central Florida students are receiving free or reduced cost lunches through the federally subsidized School Lunch Program because their families are struggling.

As a way of addressing this need Second Harvest is providing 18 Orange County elementary schools with Hi-Five Kids Packs – Kid friendly, shelf-stable packets of food product meant for weekend consumption. Each pack provides enough caloric content for a day to youngsters 6 to 8 years old.

In Orange County, which has 125 elementary schools, almost one fourth have free-lunch eligibility rates exceeding 95%. Osceola County reports a disturbing figure indicating that 70% of their students are now on the  eligible list for free lunch, up from 63% four years ago. *

Childhood Hunger and food insecurity are on the rise, not just locally but nationwide. Participation in the program has increased dramatically as we weather the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Free school lunches do not address what occurs when children lack access to school cafeterias over the weekend. The Hi-Five program helps narrow that nutritional gap. Additionally, studies clearly show a correlation between proper nutrition and academic performance.

Our Hi-Five program has grown from 5 schools in 2006 to a projected 20 schools this year. To-date, Second Harvest has gotten more than 134,000 packs into the hands and tummies of needy children.

Our latest addition is Tildenville Elementary which received its first delivery this week. By December, Cape View Elementary in Brevard County will join the others.  Our hope is that the Hi-Five program will not only feed children, but help ease the economic burden experienced by struggling families.

As one parent told a faculty member not long ago: “I rely on the food I get from the school to calculate my monthly budget.”

*Sources:

Laura Kozar, Food and Nutrition Services OCPS
Free-school-lunch program soars as more area families struggle – Orlando Sentinel, Dave Weber

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Programs Manager

What do you think of when you hear the words “Red Lobster”? If you would have asked me a month ago I would have yelled “Cheddar Bay Biscuits!!” without skipping a beat (are those the best or what?). But now when someone mentions Red Lobster, I can only think of one word…heart.

Over the past 2 weeks Darden had the pleasure of hosting over 900 Red Lobster Managers from all of the country. They were here for their annual Leadership Conference at the Hilton Bonnet Creek. The folks from Red Lobster reached out to Darden and said they wanted to do something meaningful during their stay here. So that is where our story begins.

I am sure you know that during the school year there are thousands of students that receive free or reduced lunches at school. Have you ever wondered what happens on the weekends when the cafeterias are closed? Second Harvest Food Bank has a program called Hi-Five where we provide weekend feeding packs to schools in our service area so kids can have something to eat on Saturday & Sunday.

Darden donated the funds and man power to put together close to 12,000 packs to feed children in need in our community. Amazing, right? The groups were eager to get to work and flew through the pallets of food in just hours. It was incredible to see all of these Managers working together to create something so meaningful. But beyond this project, The Darden Foundation has provided enough packs to save over 20,000 weekends last year. Second Harvest is so very lucky and grateful to have such an incredible community partner.

Photos from the service project:

Is your company interested in doing a project like this?

Contact Sasha Hausman at shausman@foodbankcentralflorida.org or 407-295-5009 x 25.

Once a month, teachers at an Orange County elementary school receive a delivery of small, shrink-wrapped packages. These packs include kid-friendly food items that are calorically-correct for an elementary-age student for two days.  On Fridays, teachers move from room to room, slipping the precious weekend food packs into the backpacks of the students that they know are at the greatest risk of being hungry when school begins again on Monday.  

Matthew is an eight-year old student at this school. One Friday afternoon, he eagerly opened his backpack before heading for home. His instant disappointment quickly turned to tears when he saw no food pack inside.  

His teacher reports that he burst out crying in front of the other students, saying “But, I really, really needed that food…”

One of Matthew’s classmates, Jasmine, stepped up immediately and said, “Here, you can have this one—you need it more than me.”  

Matthew stopped crying, brightened up, and thanked his friend over and over for sharing. Two very important things occurred in this situation. First, it underscored for teachers how big the need really was among their students’ families, and that it isn’t always easy to ‘spot’ the ones who need help.  

Second, it pointed out how quickly and profoundly an extended helping hand can change a person’s outlook. A little empathy, sacrifice, and generosity on Jasmine’s part went a long way; we can all learn something from her act of kindness.  

Thanks to the generosity of contributors throughout the community, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida was able to distribute more than 38,000 weekend feeding packs for kids last year through its “Hi-Five” program. But many more schools, and many more students like Matthew and Jasmine need help.

As more support is received, more outreach can be accomplished. One student at a time.  

September is Hunger Action Month. To play a role in ending hunger and learn more, visit: http://www.CFLHungerAction.org

Greg Higgerson, CFRE
Vice-President, Development

Hunger Action Month starts today!  While we always need your involvement with Second Harvest Food Bank all year round, we do try to make it extra easy and fun in September!

Second Harvest, in conjunction with Feeding America and 205 other food banks nationwide are participating in the Third Annual Hunger Action Month. The goal of this month is to mobilize people to get involved with fighting hunger in America.

With the help of amazing local corporate partners, we have come up with a “30 Ways in 30 Days” Calendar. We’ll be counting down our 30 day calendar in weekly blog posts, so make sure to sign up to receive them in your mailbox (on the top left of this page).

You might say “Wait a minute!  You just told me there are 3 easy ways to get involved not 30! Below you can find three easy ways to start spreading the word about hunger right here in Central Florida.

 3 easy ways to get involved:

 1) Attend at least one event on our 30 Ways in 30 Days Calendar

For Hunger Month we have partnered with Cheese Cake Factory, Joe’s Crab Shack, Firestone Live!, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, NYPD Pizza, Mochi Downtown, Third Thursday Gallery Walk, Eden Bar, City of Orlando and Enzian Theater!  Check out our calendar to see how these amazing local businesses are getting involved with Hunger Action Month!

 2) Visit: http://www.CFLHungerAction.org

Our Hunger Action Month website is an online calendar of all the events happening in September. From there you can also sign the hunger pledge and learn about more ways to get involved with Second Harvest.  

 3) Share with your friends, family and co-workers

We hope you love social media as much as we do! Just look for the social media share buttons on all our pages and events. Just click the button and it will automatically share the information you are looking at with your facebook friends or twitter followers. Also, if you pick up a calendar or a postcard at an event, make sure to grab two. One for you and one for a friend.

Did you know that One in Five Central Floridians struggles with Hunger? This story made the front page of the Orlando Sentinel this morning: Nearly a third of Central Florida children may lack adequate nutrition. Join us in changing these statistics by getting involved.

In the great words of Henry Ford: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

 Anyone want to try to complete all 30 ways in September? How do you plan on getting involved this September? 

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

I recently accompanied Santos Maldonado, our Childhood Hunger Programs Manager to take pictures of some of our Summer Feeding sites. Second Harvest currently sponsors 20 sites. Working with a major local food vendor, we are able to provide meals and snacks to children in low-income areas during the critical time when they lack access to school cafeterias.

As compared to June 2010, meals distributed doubled, from 12,642 to 25,753, making this the largest monthly increase since the program began. I will make sure to post an update for July when those numbers are available. I also learned that one of our most satisfying development this year is the expansion into Osceola County, specifically along the 192 corridor where many children of homeless families live in the motels.

Seeing first-hand the food going directly to our clients, especially when they are children, is such a humbling experience. I visited five centers and met some pretty amazing individuals who run the sites.

How the Summer Program Works

The purpose of the Summer Food Service Program is to provide nutritious meals to low-income children when school is out. Second Harvest has been a sponsor since 2008. Our sites provide one meal and one snack per day. Hot meals are served twice weekly and seconds are available to those who are still hungry. 

“All meals served through the Summer Food Service Program must meet USDA nutritional guidelines and include the following: 1 serving of milk, 2 servings of fruits and/or vegetables, 1 serving of grains, 1 serving of protein.” – SummerFoodFlorida.org

All sites are required to hang banners and posters to inform the community of the days, time, and hours of operation. Florida’s Summer Feeding Program web site will locate a summer site near your zip code. 

So What Kinds of Places Offer Free Summer Food?
You will find summer feeding sites at schools, churches, parks & recreation centers, low-income housing complexes, community parks and for the first time at for-profit locations that are willing provide community space to non-profit volunteers that oversee the program.

Second Harvest Summer Feeding Sites
Below are photos from Central Florida Dream Center, New Image Youth Center, Restore Orlando, Ebon Temple Church and Reach Back Foundation. Click here to view all our sites on a map.

Closing Thoughts
Before I started working at the food bank I used to associate summer with the beach and vacations. Now summer has an additional meaning for me. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to take photos and to share with you the great work that our staff does at Second Harvest.

If you enjoyed looking through these photos, check out this blog post (video) from last year: Katharine Mcphee Visits Second Harvest to Launch Summer Food Program

Let me know if you have any questions about our Summer Feeding Program and I will gladly get the answers for you. Have you ever had any experiences with Florida’s Summer Feeding Program?

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

Definition of a HOGstar (noun), a person who supported the Hogs Against Hunger fundraiser and ride to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Hi-Five program. 

Hogstars come in many different forms. Some purchased raffle tickets online or at an event. Some shared or retweeted about the fundraiser. Some came out to participate in a ride down I-4 last Sunday. Some sold tickets in the Harley stores, and some volunteered to spread the word. Finally some spent tireless hours organizing and working the events. But no matter what kind of HOGstar you were, you were able to help raise over $45,000 to feed children in need in our community by purchasing $10 raffle tickets to win a 2011 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic.

What does $45,000 look like? That is 17,000 nutritious meals going straight to needy children who do not have access to school cafeterias during the weekend. We started the Hi-Five Kids Pack Program when educators came to us looking for a solution to providing weekend food for the neediest of their students. Students were coming to school sick and unable to learn because they had not eaten since their school lunch the previous Friday.

Special thanks to the 450 riders who came out to the Police Escorted I-4 ride on Sunday. We had a blast and hope you did too. We started out Downtown Disney where we saw an amazing performance from the Drill Team. The ride started and the convoy went down I-4 to the Orlando Harley-Davidson I-4 Historic Factory Dealership. Once the riders parked then the party started with food, drinks, and entertainment from Orange Avenue. Everyone was waiting anxiously for the big announcement on who would win the 2011 Road King Classic!

Below are some photos of the ride and the after-party:

 
Congratulations to Bob Touchette of Oviedo for being our Grand Prize winner of the Road King Classic!

Of course none of this would be possible without the generous folks at Orlando Harley-Davidson. Special thank you to Anne Deli, Mike Case, Amanda Duitsman, Kate Hoffman, Michele Sullivan, Matt Santamarina, and all of the Orlando Harley-Davidson staff that worked so hard to put this initiative together. Second Harvest is so very lucky to have them as a supporter, donor, and friend. It was so amazing to see a group of people working so hard for a cause they felt passionate for. If we haven’t said it enough … thank you!!

Central Florida News 13 Video Coverage:

Sasha Hausman
Development Manager

Cape View Elementary School in Brevard County has become our 20th Hi-Five Kids Pack Partner School. Second Harvest Food Bank now offers the program in 3 counties; Orange, Volusia and Brevard. This latest addition was made possible by the generosity of IAP Worldwide Services based in Cape Canaveral.

The Hi-Five Kids Pack Program provides shelf-stable take-home meals for children who do not have access to school cafeterias over the weekend. It aims to provide a continuum of nutrition to youngsters in schools that have a high participation in the free and reduced school lunch program.

Second Harvest Food Bank started the Hi-Five program back in 2005 with two schools in Volusia County. This school year, we anticipate distribution exceeding 38,000 packs – The equivalent of 114,000 meals!

On another childhood related topic, 60 minutes aired a segment last night on the homeless children of Central Florida.  I urge you to take a moment to watch the segment.

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Programs Manager