Food Lifeline expands child feeding program to Sultan

Food Lifeline, headquartered in Shoreline but serving a large region in western Washington, and the Sultan Boys and Girls Club are introducing summer meals to children in the city of Sultan. 

This month Food Lifeline will be working with the Sultan Boys and Girls Club along with Volunteers of America to launch its second Kids Café feeding site. Kids Café, a child nutrition program providing meal sites in high-need communities in Western Washington with a sustainable source of healthful food and support, piloted in the nearby community of Index earlier this summer. 

The success of the Index Kids Café site and the need present in Sultan led to the program’s expansion into that city.

Meals at Kids Café in Sultan will be made available at no charge to attending children 18 years of age and younger and no child will be turned away.

Kids Café seeks to fill a significant gap in service to children from high-need communities by giving them consistent access to nutritious food. Nearly 1 in 4 children in Western Washington is at risk of going hungry and the consequences of hunger and malnutrition to children are serious and can include diminished performance in school as well as cause delays in physical and cognitive

development.

Only 11% of children enrolled in free and reduced price school lunch programs have access to a summer meals program and children need year-round access to nutritious meals to succeed in school and reach their full potential.

The Kids Café pilot program was made possible through Food Lifeline’s partnership with Regence BlueShield.