by Curtis Baker
This week I would like to take a break from our normal Bible study to make an exciting announcement for our community. You may recall that for several years we had a program in Slaton called the Kids Cafe. This program was operated under the leadership of Richard Edwards and provided a safe place for kids to go after school, both to play, and to eat a good meal. This was an excellent program that produced many great benefits for the kids who came.
Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances, and a lack of volunteers, the Kids Cafe had to be closed. The good news that I am announcing this week is that in the month of October the Kids Cafe will be reopening!
The new Kids Cafe, however, will operate slightly different than the previous program. Instead of being held at the Earl Powell Center, the Kids Cafe will now be operating as an after school program at Cathelene Thomas Elementary. Staff will be provided by the school to watch over the kids and do special activities with them, while volunteers from the community will serve the food that is delivered each day from the South Plains Food Bank. This program will be open to all children in Slaton under the age of 18. You DO NOT have to be a student at Cathelene Thomas Elementary to receive a meal in this program.
The Kids Cafe will offer a safe place for the kids to gather after school, and also a hot meal for those who may not always have the resources to receive one at home. Unfortunately, the poverty rate is quite high in Slaton, and there are a number of kids in our community that do not have all the nutrition they need. In our vision for the future, we would like to see the Cafe opened multiple days a week, but for now we are starting small with the hopes of growing. The Kids Cafe will operate only on Monday evenings for this year. The kids will be allowed to stay at the school until 6:00pm, and volunteers will be needed to serve food between 5:00 and 6:00pm.
The reason I am writing this article is to appeal to you for help. In order for this program to work, we need a good size volunteer base to be able to serve food to the kids. We are optimistic this can be done due to the overwhelming support that the community of Slaton has given to the Snack Sack Program. As we restart the Kids Cafe, our idea is to have enough volunteers to rotate the service so a person would only have to serve once in a four to six week period. Each Monday night will need three volunteers (two for serving food, and one for marking the names of all kids in attendance), and should only last one hour in duration. Ideally, we would like to have at least three volunteers from each church family in the Slaton area. As I noted earlier, the South Plains Food Bank will provide the food, which will be delivered in hot boxes. Volunteers will only be expected to serve the food to the children, throw away what is left over, and do whatever slight clean up is left of serving utensils. Representatives from the school district will be there to take care of the kids and provide activities for them.
If you are interested in volunteering for this program please contact Curtis Baker by phone or email. (Church office: 806-828-1942; email: curtisbaker@hotmail.com) Each person who participates in this program will have to attend a short training class to be certified to serve the food. That class is scheduled to take place Tuesday, October 1st at 7:00pm in the cafeteria of Cathelene Thomas Elementary. If you cannot attend then, other arrangements can be made. A background check will also be required since we are serving children through this program. We hope that you will plan on attending that night, and being a part of this important program that can be a blessing to the children of Slaton. God bless you for your care for children in this community!
