New Research Demonstrates Impact of Kids Cafe Program in Fighting Child Hunger and Supporting Families
November 24 2003 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
New Research Demonstrates Impact of Kids Cafe Program in Fighting
Child Hunger and Supporting Families BOSTON, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/
-- New research evaluating the impact of the Kids Cafe program,
released today by the Center on Hunger and Poverty, shows that the
program not only fights child hunger by providing free meals to
youth, but it also serves as a critical support system for
families. Kids Cafe, a national program of America's Second
Harvest, is one of the nation's largest free meal service programs
for children and provides nutritious food to hungry children in
safe and nurturing environments. Each Kids Cafe serves an average
of 10,000 to 12,000 meals per year. ConAgra Foods is the national
sponsor of Kids Cafes and has funded more than 130 Kids Cafes to
date in cities across the country. The Kids Cafe evaluation
included interviews with program directors, parents/caregivers and
youth participants at 20 ConAgra Foods Kids Cafe sites. It was
conducted by the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brandeis
University, the leading scholarly institution addressing hunger
policy and programs in the U.S. Among the evaluation's findings: --
Two-thirds of children surveyed reported feeling better since going
to Kids Cafes. The top improvements children noted were: earning
better grades in school, having more energy and less fatigue,
having better concentration and feeling less grouchy. -- 77% of
parents/caregivers identified improvements in their child's
learning since going to the Kids Cafe; 68% reported improvements in
their child's overall physical health. -- Many parents/caregivers
reported that their child's participation in the Kids Cafe program
ensures that their child will be fed even when parents/caregivers
need to work non-traditional hours. -- Program directors,
parents/caregivers and children view Kids Cafe as much more than a
feeding program. Services such as providing a safe environment for
children and educational activities also were seen as essential
program benefits. "This evaluation confirms the importance of Kids
Cafes in the lives of participants and their families," says Dr. J.
Larry Brown, executive director of the Center on Hunger and
Poverty. "We know that hunger affects more than just children's
bodies - it affects their learning capacity, behavior and even
their health status. The research indicates that feeding children
better leads to an improvement in their overall well-being." "In
four years of supporting Kids Cafes, we have seen first-hand the
benefits of providing regular nutritious meals and a safe,
nurturing environment for children," says Lynn Phares, president of
the ConAgra Foods Feeding Children Better Foundation. "We are proud
to support a program that has proven to be effective and hope that
its success will encourage communities across the country to adopt
Kids Cafe as one way to address one of the most serious issues
facing our country - child hunger." Hunger Affects Nearly One in
Five American Youth Approximately 13 million children in the U.S. -
or nearly one in five youth - live in households that are hungry or
at risk of going hungry. Many of these children come from families
that struggle to make ends meet and simply cannot always cover the
cost of housing, medical care, utility bills, car payments and
food. In fact, more than one-third of low-income families often
must choose between paying rent and buying groceries. The sluggish
economy has only escalated demand for food assistance; requests for
emergency food aid in major cities jumped 19 percent last year. The
impact of hunger on children's overall well-being is alarming.
According to The Consequences of Hunger and Food Insecurity for
Children, a review of recent scholarly research, food-insecure and
hungry children have poorer overall health and, as a result, miss
more days of school and are less prepared to learn when they are
able to attend. They are also more likely to have poorer mental
health, be withdrawn or socially disruptive and suffer greater
rates of behavioral disorders. Kids Cafe: Ten Years of Fighting
Child Hunger This year, the national Kids Cafe program celebrates
its tenth anniversary of providing free, nutritious meals for
children in safe environments. Today, there are 141 America's
Second Harvest affiliate food banks and food-rescue organizations
operating more than 1,200 Kids Cafe sites, which serve more than 12
million meals per year to children in 41 states and Washington,
D.C. "We established the national Kids Cafe program ten years ago
to address an overlooked need," says Robert Forney, CEO of
America's Second Harvest. "Today, thanks to partners like ConAgra
Foods, parents in communities across the country feel comfort
knowing that their children have a safe place to go after school
and full stomachs at bedtime." To celebrate the tenth anniversary
of the Kids Cafe program and its impact on the nation's children
and their families, ConAgra Foods and America's Second Harvest are
hosting "Kids Cafe Day" events in select U.S. cities this holiday
season. These events will feature a special Butterball Turkey meal
for children at ConAgra Foods Kids Cafes and include the
announcement of the Center on Hunger and Poverty's research
results. A copy of the full evaluation is available at
http://www.centeronhunger.org/ or
http://www.feedingchildrenbetter.org/. The Center on Hunger and
Poverty promotes policies that improve the lives and developmental
capacities of low-income children and families in the nation.
Established in 1990, the Center conducts applied research and
policy analysis, disseminates analytic information on poverty and
hunger, carries out public education initiatives and provides
assistance to policy makers and organizations across the country on
poverty- and hunger-related issues. The Center on Hunger and
Poverty is part of the Heller School for Social Policy and
Management at Brandeis University. ConAgra Foods' Feeding Children
Better program is the nation's largest corporate initiative
dedicated solely to fighting child hunger. Feeding Children Better
has funded more than 130 new Kids Cafes, supported technology and
transportation programs for the America's Second Harvest network of
food banks (including the purchase of 100 trucks for food banks),
and sponsored the Ad Council child hunger campaign. Feeding
Children Better is funded by ConAgra Foods, Inc. ConAgra Foods,
Inc. (NYSE:CAG) is one of North America's largest packaged food
companies, serving consumer grocery retailers, as well as
restaurants and other foodservice establishments. Popular ConAgra
Foods consumer brands include: ACT II, Armour, Banquet, Blue
Bonnet, Butterball, Chef Boyardee, Cook's, Eckrich, Gulden's,
Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Kid Cuisine, Knott's Berry
Farm, La Choy, Louis Kemp, Marie Callender's, Orville
Redenbacher's, Parkay, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, PAM, Pemmican, Peter
Pan, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp's, Wesson, and many others.
For more information, please visit us at
http://www.conagrafoods.com/. America's Second Harvest is the
nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, with a
national network of more than 200 regional food banks and
food-rescue programs serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico. It
distributes 1.8 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products
annually. America's Second Harvest's network supports approximately
50,000 local charitable agencies, operating more than 94,000 food
programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens, women's shelters,
Kids Cafes and Community Kitchens. These local organizations
provide emergency food assistance to 23 million hungry Americans,
including more than nine million children and almost three million
seniors each year. DATASOURCE: ConAgra Foods CONTACT: Anne C.
Leslie, Cone, for ConAgra Foods, +1-617-272-8403, Web site:
http://www.conagrafoods.com/
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