Treasure Coast Food Bank and ConAgra Foods Fight Child Hunger on the Treasure Coast
Treasure Coast Food Bank in partnership with the ConAgra Foods Feeding
Children Better Foundation and America's Second Harvest-The Nation's
Food Bank Netwrok, are opening the Treasure Coast's first ConAgra Foods
Kids Cafe at the Dasie Bridgewater Hope Center, Inc., in Wabasso,
Florida. Approximately 17 percent of the children living on the
Treasure Coast live in poverty. The new Kids Cafe will provide meals
four days a week to approximately 70 children.
Kids Cafe is a program of America's Second Harvest, sponsored
nationally by ConAgra Foods, and operated locally by the Treasure Coast
Food Bank. With more than 1,600 sites in 42 states and Washington,
D.C., Kids Cafe is one of the nation's largest charitable meal service
programs for children at-risk of hunger.
The Kids Cafe at Dasie Hope Center in addition to providing
nutririous meals for children, offers students the opportunity at the
Center to learn how to prepare and serve those meals. Students assist
in the daily preparation of late afternoon meal for all the children
attending the Center.
Article originally published in The Press Journal April 22, 2009 By Janet Begley
Kids Cafe fixes the vittles with hope in Wabasso
WABASSO — Sometimes it's macaroni and cheese. Other days, it's baked chicken with rice.
But no matter what's on the dinner menu at the Dasie Bridgewater Hope Center in Wabasso, something good is always coming out of the kitchen.
As part of the after-school center's Kids Caf'é the Dasie Bridgewater Hope Center program, about 80 children receive a free, hot dinner four nights a week, said Executive Director Verna Wright . Meals are prepared and served by students from the center's Girls with a Future mentoring program, under the watchful eye of kitchen manager Janice Miller.
The program is funded through a $64,000 grant to the Dasie Hope Tutorial Program by Indian River County's Children's Services Advisory Committee. In addition to dinner, the Kids Caf'é serves a hot breakfast, lunch and a snack to children throughout the summer months.
"It's such a hands-on operation," said Miller, who is also a teacher in the after-school program. "The children come up with the menu on their own each week, find the recipes and actually prepare and cook the food. It gives them a chance to really be creative."
While older children do the actual food preparation for Kids Caf'é, younger students help with serving and clean-up.
"The younger kids really look up to us," said 18-year-old Yanique Blidgen of Vero Beach. "They talk to us, ask us questions about what we're doing, and want to know how they can help."
Blidgen said she enjoys cooking, especially making comfort foods such as mashed potatoes and chicken. "I live with my grandparents so I get to cook all the time," she said.
While feeding children is the purpose of the Kids Caf'é, the project also helps children learn about good eating habits. "It's a wonderful program, especially for our older girls who are heading off to college," said Wright.
"They've learned about nutrition and are able to fix something quick and healthy while they're away from home."
When one of the center's volunteers brought in a recipe for brownies, the girls formed Dasie Bakers , creating their own version called "brownknees," which have become a center favorite. The bakers also prepare desserts that are sold at events, and even accept special orders for the brownies around the holidays.
Iesha Goodman, 17, from Fellsmere, said after the girls learned how to make the brownies, everyone was careful not to divulge the recipe.
"It's a secret, we can't tell anyone," she said. "But they're really good."
UPDATE:
During
the summer, Kids Cafe got a facelift. Thanks to the John’s Island
Foundation and a very generous anonymous donor the kitchen at Dasie
Hope has been updated to an efficient, restaurant-style operation which
will enable the Center to continue serving hot, nutritious, late-day
meals to all of our children. Kids Cafe could
not be possible without the committed assistance of the executive chefs
who continue to volunteer their time and talent from RedStick Golf
Club, Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Quail Valley Golf Club. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful community partners.
