Kids Café offers a fun food spot
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Stefan Hard/Times Argus |
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By Sarah Hinckley Times Argus Staff - Published: January 28, 2009
BARRE - The latest café in the city is open one night a week, has an enthusiastic clientele and oscillates between chaos and calm.
Tuesday afternoon, Gov. James Douglas and representatives of the Vermont Food Bank visited the Barre Salvation Army on Keith Avenue to meet the regulars of the Kids Café. Located on the second floor of the building, the Kids Café offers one full meal to children one night a week with the help of the Foodbank.
"We usually come here every Tuesday," said Cyla Gauthier, 8, of Barre City before the ceremony began. "I pretty much wish it was everyday… We eat supper here and we sing. We pray for our food and stuff."
An average of 30 children have been frequenting the food stop at the Salvation Army on Tuesday evenings since the café officially opened last September. Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, pizza and spaghetti are among the regular menu items.
"Barre is definitely a community that is in need," said Capt. Kim DeLong, who took over the Barre chapter of the Salvation Army with her husband within the last year. "I find that the parents are really encouraging it … Every Tuesday their child is going home with a full meal."
A year ago there were two Kids Cafés operating in organizations around the state. There are now eight from Canaan to Brattleboro, according to Jen Hutchinson, the youth programs manager, who has set a goal of 10 cafés in Vermont.
"The goal is to have even more places," said Douglas during a brief address. "So other kids in Vermont can have a nice, nutritious meal."
At the Vermont Foodbank, Hutchinson's position is new, created in response to the demand for such programs around the state.
"A lot of kids depend on this meal every week, for some of these kids, if they don't have this meal, they don't eat," said Hutchinson, who told the crowd that 7.5 million pounds of food will be distributed this year through the Foodbank. "We always say the Foodbank is a good barometer of what is going on in a community. We felt the affects of the economy long before it was in the news."
There are close to 2,000 Kids Cafés around the country and the eight programs in Vermont feed about 500 children. In order for an organization to be a member of the Vermont Foodbank, 50 percent of the people it serves must be low-income.
DeLong said the reason for the gathering Tuesday was to introduce the community to the Kids Café. Children who come to the meal served once a week are allowed to have seconds – and thirds if the food is available.
"As long as we have it, we serve it," said DeLong who came from Keene, NH where she helped set up a Kids Café, but Barre's need seems greater. "I am busier, there's no question."
Before the children filed upstairs to partake in the nightly fare – pans of lasagna brought by the folks at the Foodbank – Gauthier volunteered to lead the group in a prayer.
"Dear God, thank you for this day," she said, " and I hope our food is going to be good."
Contact Sarah Hinckley at sarah.hinckley@timesargus.com.
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