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Contact Us 6833 Hill Park Drive
United Way #8052
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Programs & Resources >
Children and Nutrition Programs
Nourish
Educate
Empower
Food Distribution Programs
Nutrition Education Programs
- Food & Skills (F&S)
- Food For Thought (FFT)
- Operation Frontline (OFL)
- Farm Youth Initiative (FYI)
- RX for Healthy Weight Management
Children and Nutrition Programs are supported by these partners:
Capital One, Consumer Health Foundation,
What do we do?
Investing in the lives of children and the community, the Children and Nutrition Programs provide healthy food and nutrition education to children, teens and adults who are at risk of hunger in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Why must we serve?
1 in 2 children in the District of Columbia are at risk of hunger.
In Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, 1 in 4 children and in Northern Virginia, 1 in 5 are at risk of hunger.
Every single child that suffers from hunger or malnutrition is one too many. Childhood hunger is much more than an aching stomach. Just one meal missed has adverse effects on concentration and energy levels. Research indicates that mild malnutrition during critical growing stages may lead to reductions in physical growth and affect brain development. Hungry children do not perform as well in school and become ill more frequently than well-nourished peers. Without this program, the free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school would be the only source of food for many Kids Cafe participants.
Hunger and Nutrition at a glance
- In 2002, 34.9 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, 21.8 million adults and 13.1 million children.
- From 1996 to 2002, the proportion of households in Washington, DC without sufficient nutritious food averaged 12.7 percent, among the highest state prevalence rates in the country. Hunger Filled With Dire Consequences, J. Cook & D. Frank, 2004
- Both obesity and hunger are serious public health problems, sometimes co-existing in the same families and the same individuals. Their co-existence sounds contradictory, but those with insufficient resources and education to purchase adequate nutritious food can become overweight.
- The number of obese children has quadrupled from 1971 to 2000, reaching 15% for those ages 6 to 11. Obese adolescents are twice as apt to live in low-income homes. Center on Hunger and Poverty & Food Research Center, 2003
Become part of the solution
Give Time
You can make a difference by volunteering with Children and Nutrition Programs. We are looking for:
- New, immediate opportunities click here
- Warehouse Volunteers
- Administrative Volunteers
- Nutritionists
- Chefs
- Educators
Give Food
You can help by donating kid-friendly, nutritious foods for our food programs and recipe-specific items for our education classes.
Give Funds
Tax-deductible contributions will help fund the programs. As little as $20 provides approximately 15 nutritious meals to children at risk of hunger.
Kids Cafe
After School Meal Program
What is Kids Cafe?
Kids Cafe partners with after school programs providing food and nutrition education to children who suffer from hunger. Well-balanced hearty snacks or evening meals are provided to children ages 5-18 years old in an environment that is safe and accessible. Across the nation, more than 1,000 Kids Cafes are operated by Food Banks in conjunction with America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization. Locally, the Capital Area Food Bank serves more than 2,100 children and teens at 49 after school snack/meal sites.
Where are the Kids Cafe sites located?
Kids Cafe sites are located throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area in local recreation centers, churches, schools, and after school community centers.
What services do Kids Cafe sites provide?
Children receive more than a nutritious meal and nutrition education. Each location's unique programs offer a variety of academic and/or social enrichment activities. In a safe and accessible environment, activities such as tutoring, mentoring, literacy training, computer training, sports, and social skills development are provided for the children. Teen programs provide enrichment alternatives for at risk youth. In addition, our partnerships with local athletic teams, also offer opportunities to attend DC United and Washington Wizards games.
What impact do we have?
By providing nutritious food and nutrition education, these programs contribute to improved health, reduced behavior problems, and improved school performance of participants.
Without Kids Cafe, the free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school would be the only source of food available to many participants.
"Being able to provide meals and snacks for the youth in our neighborhood has been a great help to us in making sure the youth in our area eat at least one meal on a daily basis. We have increased the amount of youth that attend our programs and we are able to use money we would spend for snacks on other things to help provide a safe and fun environment for our youth at the Kentland Community Center."
- Donald L. Long, program specialist, Kentland Community Center, Maryland
"Not only are we able to provide a nourishing snack or meal each day, we also are reinforcing our goal of fostering a wholesome and healthy environment for our children."
- Barton C. Stone, Director of Youth Programs, Edgewood Management Community Services
For more information about Kids Cafe in DC, contact Jennifer Buffa, Kids Cafe Coordinator at 202-526-5344 ext. 226 or email: buffaj@cfoodbank.org.
For more information about Kids Cafe in MD, contact Nili Yossinger, MD Kids Cafe Coordinator at 202-526-5344 ext. 228 or email: yossingern@cfoodbank.org.
For information about Kids Cafe in Northern Virginia, contact Ryan Finlen, NOVA Kids Cafe Coordinator at 703-541-3063 ext. 12 or email finlenr@cfoodbank.org.
Food For Kids
Weekend Bag Program
What is Food For Kids?
Each week Food For Kids delivers supplemental weekend food bags to community based sites serving more than 1,000 children of low income families in the Washinton Metropolitan Area. This program is designed to help ease hunger during the days that school is out since many of the children served rely on free and reduced school breakfasts and lunches for their main meals.
How are the Food for Kids bags prepared and distributed?
These nutritious kid friendly food bags are packed by groups of volunteers weekly for delivery byFood Bank trucks. The bags are distributed on Friday for the children to carry home for weekend use. For more information, contact Nili Yossinger, FFK Coordinator, 202-526-5344 ext. 228 or email: yossingern@cfoodbank.org
It takes more than food to end hunger.
The Capital Area Food Bank’s Nutrition Education programs teach healthy living by providing education on nutrition, cooking, food budgeting, food safety, physical fitness and food stamps to low income families, seniors, children, teens and adults who are at risk of hunger. Many of the classes supply take home bags of groceries so that participants can replicate the recipe prepared in class. Through the multi-week session, participants are given the tools to increase their knowledge and change behaviors to live healthier lives. In addition, information is provided to assist them in accessing nutritious and affordable food with their limited resources. Self-sufficiency and long term solutions to hunger are achieved by educating, empowering and enlightening participants.
Our Nutrition Educator also provides Safe Food Handling classes for our agency food handlers. Students that pass are certified safe food handlers providing them with additional career opportunities. For more information, contact Nutrition Educator, 202-526-5344 ext. 250 or email: rowek@cfoodbank.org
Program partners include Share Our Strength,Children's National Medical Center, Unity Healthcare, Food & Friends, Washington Youth Gardens, Food Bank agencies (a network of over 700 agencies), CAFB's Kids Cafe afterschool program (a network of 53 meal sites), volunteer chefs and nutritionists, community volunteers and interns. Local intern programs and that CNP has partnered with include the following: Georgetown University, George Washington University, George Mason University, University of Maryland, Volunteer Fairfax/ExxonMobil, Institute on Philanthropy and Volunteer Services, and Virginia Tech.
Food & Skills
Food & Skills offers a range of nutrition education classes taught in multi week sessions. Community volunteers and interns from local universities are recruited and trained by Food Bank staff to instruct the classes. Various health issues are addressed including diabetes and heart disease. The classes provide participants with the tools to prepare nutritious food on a budget to help individuals make lifestyle changes for healthy living. At the end of each Food & Skills class participants receive a bag containing the ingredients used in each recipe to practice and prepare the meal at home.
Food & Skills: RX for Healthy Weight Management
RX class participants are referred to these nutrition classes by their physicians. Physicians identify low income children and adults whose weight has become a detrimental factor in their health; who are at risk or who have developed health problems related to obesity. The RX classes are designed to teach family members how to plan and cook healthy meals that will contribute to weight loss and wieght management for their children or themselves.
Nutrition Education for Kids
What is Food for Thought?
CAFB staff and volunteer Nutritionists address the issues of nutrition and health through the Food For Thought program. Taught at Kids Cafe, this program gives children the opportunity to increase their awareness of how their eating habits affect their health through hands-on lessons and food preparation activities.
Operation Frontline
Hands on cooking and nutrition classes
Founded by Share Our Strength and run by the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C., Operation Frontline is a cooking-based nutrition program for low income communities. Operation Frontline mobilizes volunteer chefs, nutritionists, and health enthusiants to teach cooking classes focusing on nutrition and food budgeting to those who are at risk of hunger and malnutrition.
Each class series includes six sessions taught by professional volunteer chefs and nutritionists who work with class participants to prepare a healthy low-cost meal. At the end of each class participants receive a bag containing the ingredients used in each recipe to practice and prepare the meal at home. This allows the participants to practice their skills and to share their new knowledge and skills with their families. A trip to the local grocery store is included in each series to teach comparison-shopping and other helpful money saving ideas. Each series culminates with a graduation ceremony for the participants.
Click here to view a documentary made by Georgetown University students about Operation Frontline DC.
Operation Frontline has different curriculums that can meet the needs of a variety of community sites:
- Eating Right, for low-income adults, includes topics such as planning balanced, low-fat meals, shopping to maximize food dollar value, and developing good kitchen sanitation habits.
- Kids Up Front, for children ages 8-12, uses the food guide pyramid to teach kids about nutrition and healthy snacking and provides simple recipes that children can prepare themselves.
- Side by Side, for parents and children, is designed to help families create mealtimes and learn how to cook healthy meals together.
- Saving Smart, Spending Smart, builds on the food budgeting component of the nutrition curriculum, teaching low-income adults financial planning skills, including how to develop a savings plan, handle a paycheck and shop effectively.
- Eating Well, for people living with HIV and AIDS, includes specialized recipes and information on the different nutritional needs of people living with HIV and AIDS.
- The Power of Eating Right, for teens, teaches how to make healthy food choices and prepare healthy meals and snacks for busy teens on-the-go.
- Step Up to Eating Right, for teen parents, teaches how to make healthy food choices and prepare nutritious foods for themselves and their babies.
To read the latest edition of the Operation Frontline newsletter, click here.
Class locations include So Others Might Eat, Food and Friends, Parklawn Family Center (VA), and many more.
For more information or to volunteer to teach an OFL series, contact Becky Handforth, Operation Frontline Coordinator at extension 227 or email handforthb@cfoodbank.org
Farm Youth Initiative
Fresh Foods for Strong Minds and Bodies
Youth engage in hands-on-activities and lessons in Kids Cafe programs and at the Clagett Farm during the summer. They are taught the benefit of eating fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the origins of those foods and how to access them while provided with an educational experience on a working farm. For more information, call Susan Topping at 202-526-5344 ext. 301 or email: toppings@cfoodbank.org
