Last week, the Capital Area Food Bank’s Food For Kids Department had a wonderful opening celebration event to welcome our 10 new DC Kids Cafe® sites and to recognize some of the people who help make our work possible. The event was held at Little Lights Urban Ministries, one of the new sites in Ward 6. We also celebrated DC and MD’s recent acceptance into the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program’s supper pilot program, which means we will be able to receive reimbursements for the suppers we are serving at eligible sites.
The Event
Children sat coloring the food pyramid as donors, OSSE representatives, long-time volunteers, and advocacy partners from Feeding America and DC Hunger Solutions were welcomed in to the site.
We had four speakers at our event. Lynn spoke to the group about the importance of food and our work in the community. I spoke to the group about the ongoing goals of Kids Cafe. Steve Park spoke to the group about the children’s programs at Little Lights Urban Ministries and the impact that Kids Cafe will make at their site. Daniel Nestel discussed the volunteer projects his family leads at Beth El Temple and why he finds this work so important.
After the speakers, Jeff Poch led the children in a nutrition activity talking about the food groups. Then he and the children made guacamole and the salsa for tacos. The children enjoyed a dinner of bean and turkey tacos with lots of veggies on whole-wheat tortillas, a side of fruit salad, triscuits, and milk and juice. 
