How We Help Kids

1 in 5 kids in Central Florida is at risk of going to bed hungry tonight. Learn how we are helping close the hunger gap for our most vulnerable population.  

Kids Cafe

Kids Cafe is an after-school meal service program that provides food to children in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. We prepare and deliver nutritionally balanced meals on week days during the school year.

Kids Cafe is also a partnership. Second Harvest Food Bank provides the food, funding and coordinator training for all Kids Cafe sites with support from corporations, foundations and the State of Florida's Child Care Food Program. Site partners such as community centers, churches, and Parks & Recreation sites, prepare and serve meals to children at their location. Each center also provides a wide range of enrichment and educational activities including nutritional education.

Last year, Second Harvest provided 214,909 meals to kids at 29 sites in Central Florida.

Summer Food Service

Hunger doesn’t take a summer break; neither does the need for good nutrition. As part of the Florida Summer Food Service Program, Second Harvest prepares, packages and distributes nutritious meals and snacks free of charge to kids and teens ages 18 and under.  This past summer we provided 675,496 breakfasts, lunches and snacks to 118 sites in 6 counties. Learn more about the impact of this program.

Kids Packs

The Kids Packs program provides nutritious meals to needy children who do not have access to school cafeterias during the weekend. We started the program when educators came to us looking for a solution to providing weekend food for the neediest of their students. Students were coming to school sick on Monday and unable to learn because they had not eaten since their school lunch the previous Friday.

Second Harvest Food Bank partners with elementary schools that have a significant percentage of student participation in free and reduced lunch programs. Last year, 34,640 weekend food packs were provided to needy children at elementary schools. Learn more about our packs and who makes this program possible. 

The School Market Program

The School Market Program establishes partnerships between not-for-profit community organizations, such as churches, Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis, and local middle and high schools in their community to specifically address teen hunger.

School Markets are established to provide free snacks, meal items, and fresh produce to students without question of need or eligibility. The stigma barrier is reduced by incorporating students into the development of the market, offering client choice, and eliminating the traditional registration system. Learn more about this program and how you can get involved.

48 schools hosted fresh produce markets on campus.