Getting kids to eat is sometimes tough, but it’s even tougher if there isn’t enough food on the plate. That’s why Food Lifeline is expanding the Kids Cafe program. This spring, we are adding four new locations to the after school meals program!
“We will reach so many children that need our help,” says Kids Cafe Coordinator Stephanie Jamieson. “Across these new locations we will feed 90 more kids every day in Snohomish County.
The Kids Cafe after school program brings meals to children who normally rely on the free or reduced lunch programs in our Western Washington schools. There are currently five after school locations, and these new locations bring the total to nine.
The new sites will include three Snohomish County Boys and Girls Clubs; Trailside Club, Cascade Club and Cascade Club’s satellite site at Emerson Elementary in Everett and the Sky Valley Volunteers of America Safe Stop Program in Sultan.
So just how important are after school and summer meal programs to these children? One unit director from the Boys and Girls Club in Everett tells Food Lifeline that what she hears most from children is “I come to the Boys and Girls Clubs because they feed me.”
“That really stuck with me,” says Jamieson. “I’m so glad we’ll be able to offer these kids a dinner and a snack that they can rely on Monday through Friday.”
While the Kids Cafe team at Food Lifeline is excited about these new opportunities, they look to add eight more locations for the summer months when kids who rely on free and reduced lunch no longer have the safety net of a school meal available to them.
