April 19, 2017

Our Kids Cafe Story

Author: Santos Maldonado

Our organization quickly embraced America’s Second Harvest’s (what is now Feeding America) Kids Cafe Program soon after it was conceived in 1993. Since then, over 60 different locations in four counties have benefited from this prepared meal program.

• Since 1993, over 2.2 million meals have been served.
• 33% of those in the last 3 years.
• From inception to 2015, prepared meals were purchased from an external vendor.
• In October of 2015, our production kitchen began delivering cold meals.
• In February of 2016, we partnered with Orange County Parks & Recreation to provide meals to their 12 after school centers!
• In August of 2016, our kitchen began serving hot meals.
• Last December, we opened up our first Kids Cafe in Brevard County.
• Just last month, we opened up our second Brevard Kids Cafe.
• Today, we serve over 1,400 kids each day at 27 different locations in 4 counties.View a Map of current sites.

Read More …

August 6, 2014

USDA Partnership

Author: Dave Krepcho

USDA recently visited our main facility and were amazed at what they saw. Robin Bailey, Jr., Southeast Regional Administrator for the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and I are pictured here identifying turkeys purchased by the USDA through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Items like these are distributed to needy families by state partners like food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens, or community action agencies.

Of all the food banks they work with and visit, they said ours was beyond what they’ve seen and imagined. Our systems, inventory control, food safety and spotlessly clean environment are all of the qualities they seek in a partner. We have a contract to distribute food that is part of “The Emergency Food Assistance Program”. These are various USDA commodities that are provided for people in need.

USDA is one of many fine examples of partnerships that bring millions of pounds of food to our Central Florida table for distribution. Farmers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, manufacturers, restaurants, resorts along with community food drives all come together with their donations. Last year alone this totaled enough food for 53 million meals. That works out to Second Harvest channeling the food at the rate of one meal per second. Read More …

October 16, 2013

Kids Cafes Serve Enhanced Afterschool Meals

Author: Santos Maldonado

Last Thursday our Kids Cafes began the first phase of a significant nutritional transformation. Full five component meals will now be offered daily to at-risk children in afterschool centers located in low income areas.

Prior to our approval on October 2nd, subsidies from the Child Care Food Program, overseen by the Florida Department of Health, would only partially cover the cost of small snacks. The new program, called the Afterschool Meal Program, or AMP, taps increased USDA funding to help sponsors such as Second Harvest Food Bank enhance and sustain new and existing sites. Read More …

April 30, 2013

Second Harvest’s Summer Food Service Program enters its Sixth Year

Author: Santos Maldonado

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, Second Harvest Food Bank will seamlessly transition from its Kids Cafe afternoon program to The Summer Food Service Program.

This USDA subsidized program makes it possible for us to provide free, nutritious, prepared meals to children ages 18 and under while schools and their cafeterias are closed for the season. Community centers, summer camps, churches and other nonprofit organizations may participate. Additionally, for-profit, low income residential complexes may also host sites. Read More …

April 10, 2012

Summer Food Service Program at Second Harvest

Author: Santos Maldonado

The Summer Food Service Program gives us the opportunity to provide free, nutritious meals to children ages 18 and under while schools and their cafeterias are closed for the season. Community centers, summer camps, churches and other nonprofit organizations may participate in this program. Additionally, for-profit, low income residential complexes may also host summer food sites.

This summer, we hope to sponsor sites in three counties. The program will operate from June 8^th through August 17^th – for a total of 50 days.

Since this program commenced at Second Harvest Food Bank in 2008, 167,030 meals have been served.

To participate, a site must: Read More …

November 17, 2010

Tale of the Tape: Sizing up Hunger

Author: Karen Broussard

With a mission of “Fighting Hunger in Central Florida” you would think Second Harvest would resort to more boxing analogies. Well, Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service released its annual study measuring food security in the United States and it looks like we continue to have our work cut out for us.

Here are some key findings:

• In 2009, 50.2 million (16.6%) Americans lived in food insecure households. 
• In 2009, 17.2 million (23.2%) children were living in food insecure households. 
• In 2009, 2.2 million (7.5%) households with seniors were living in food insecure households.
• In 2009, 884,000 (7.8%) seniors living alone were living in food insecure households.

The full report can be viewed at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR108/ERR108.pdf

To bring this national story back to the local level, the Orlando Sentinel profiled Central Florida’s response to food insecurity and hunger.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-central-florida-hunger-20101115,0,420934.story

Much like Little Mac in PunchOut, our opponent seems to be insurmountable, but the one thing we have in our corner is the community. Second Harvest continues to be able to fight hunger with our partner feeding agencies, volunteers, and donors.

 As a team we’ll continue to keep fighting until hunger is down for the count.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs