Food Bank of Larimer County serves 16,000 meals to children in June

The Food Bank for Larimer County’s Kids Cafe, 1301 Blue Spruce, is serving over 750 daily summer meals at its eight community center sites — including the Wellington Boys & Girls Club — to children at risk for hunger, marking a 23 percent increase in meals over June 2010. This summer’s food service program is the largest meal outreach Kid Cafe has implemented in its seven years of operation.

New this year, parents/grandparents can eat for free at any Kids Cafe site thanks to a grant to Hunger-Free Colorado, a state-wide anti-hunger organization, from a generous donor advised fund of the Denver Foundation. This grant offers reimbursement to the FBLC for meals served to adults accompanying their children at summer feeding sites.

Funded in part by the Federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) administered by Colorado Department of Education, Kids Cafe is a year-round feeding program through the FBLC that targets children ages 3-18 years who are at risk of hunger. Kids Cafe brings a free, nutritious breakfast and hot lunch Monday through Friday to community sites located in Larimer County. Any child that visits Kids Cafe is accepted and served a meal at no cost.

The 2011 summer sites include: CORE Center, Fort Collins Boys & Girls Club, Northside Aztlan Community Center, Harmony Road Kids Cafe, Wellington Boys & Girls Club, Loveland Boys & Girls Club, Maple Terrace Kids Cafe, and the new Estes Park Kids Cafe. Although each site varies, breakfast is served at 9 a.m. while a hot lunch is served at noon, Monday through Friday. Most sites are open through August 12.

For more information about the Food Bank or Kids Cafe, please visit www.foodbanklarimer.org. For more information about Hunger-Free Colorado, visit www.hungerfreecolorado.org.