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USDA Under Secretary Visits Kids Café in Boys & Girls Club
U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Nancy Montanez Johner traveled from Washington D.C. to Mesa, Arizona to tour two Kids Café sites operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. In addition to touring the Lehi and Red Mountain clubhouses located on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Under Secretary met with the children to share information on nutrition education while they enjoyed their healthy snack and evening meal. Also attending the special visit were representatives from the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Association of Arizona Food Banks, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Council, and United Food Bank of Mesa.
A partnership between the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale and United Food Bank makes the Kids Café program possible, providing youth with nutritionally balanced meals and snacks. Healthy snacks are served five days a week at the branchesHot meals are served every Thursday.
Food for the snacks and meals are provided by a two-year grant with the United Food Bank. The Salt River High School cafeteria staff voluntarily prepares the hot meals. Kids Café serves 625 snacks and 125 meals every week at the Lehi and Red Mountain Branches.
This remarkable program is for any child in the community, not just Club members. “The Kids Café program has a huge impact on the community,” said Brian Yazzie, Director of Native American Services for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. “I was tired of seeing kids go home hungry. There would be no nutritious meal, and sometimes no parent at home. Kids at both Clubs love the program, and parents appreciate it.” Yazzie plans on growing the program over the next few years, to take care of the needs of underprivileged children in the community and raise awareness of the hunger problem. The Clubs plan on serving hot meals twice a week by Spring 2008 and meals five times a week by 2010.
Kids Café is a program of America’s Second Harvest, which is sponsored nationally by ConAgra Foods, and operated locally by United Food Bank. United Food Bank is a community-based private non-profit that provides hunger relief/food assistance by collecting, acquiring, storing, and distributing food and related commodities through a network of partner social service agencies. “When children are in reputable programs like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, their social skills and everything else improves,” said Bob Evans, President & CEO of United Food Bank. “These programs keep kids off the streets and in school with full stomachs.”
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