Inside the Damiano Center, on the second floor is the Kid’s Café where True North AmeriCorps member Michelle Naar can be found daily serving the youth of Duluth. The Kid’s Café is a program that began after staff at the Damiano Center noticed a growing number of children coming to the Soup Kitchen at the center without an adult. The programs began in 2001. The main focus is to provide youth with a nutritional meal as well as education and a fun and safe environment for them to hang out at. Regular hours are from 3:30-5:30 pm for supper and during the summer, 11:30 am-1:00 pm for lunch. Michelle’s main role is to explore nutrition with the youth. Michelle hopes to leave a legacy of gardens. In the back of the building, there is an outdoor area that will soon have a playground and three small garden plots. When the weather starts to warm up, Michelle plans to keep the youth and their families busy growing all sorts of vegetables and fruits. Everything grown will be used at the program or given to the Soup Kitchen to use. Kid’s Café also has a large garden plot a couple blocks from the Damiano Center that Michelle is excited to get digging at.
There are approximately 15 kids who regularly attend the program and meal, however, the Kid’s Cafe can get as many 35 youth on busy days. Parents are encouraged to come but are only required to if the youth are under 6 years old. Michelle has done a variety of food/gardening related projects with the youth already. Recently, she and the youth planted an indoor garden that will have herbs, peas and other plants. This fall they made homemade salsa, a green tomato cake and apple cider. Watching the kids work together and get excited over making the apple cider has been Michelle’s most rewarding experience thus far. She would love to encourage more teambuilding activities like this to get more youth involved. “Kids have special gifts and talents that aren’t always noticed so here at the Kid’s Café we give them a chance to explore those”, Michelle says.
For more information about the Damiano Center and the Kids Cafe, visit http://www.damianocenter.org/
