Several sites in Adams County are hosting Kids Café, a program aimed at reducing hunger.

Nearly one in seven Coloradans do not know where their next meal will come from, according to the Food Bank of the Rockies, who runs the Kids Café program. The Food Bank estimates that about 160,000 children in its service area struggle with hunger.

“During the school year, they’re getting lunch at school and they go home and may not have any food for dinner,” said Janie Gianotsos, director of marketing and community relations with the Food Bank. “Everything from your body to your brain needs food to grow. That’s why we do this program.”

The sites that host Kids Café either do a hot meal or pre-packaged meal, which offers food that doesn’t have to be refrigerated or warmed up.

The Northglenn Recreation Center, 11801 Community Center Drive, offers the pre-packaged meals.

“I am very fortunate to work for a city that identifies the needs of the community, and when the Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) approached us I had the support of the City Council and my supervisors to pursue this awesome opportunity,” Deb Lawson, recreation supervisor at the city of Northglenn said.

Northglenn started hosting the program last spring at the Recreation Center. To get a sack lunch, all a child has to do is stop at the front desk from 5-6 p.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

On a daily average, Gianotsos said 27 children received sack lunches at the Recreation Center location.

“Every hungry kid is important,” she said. “One hungry child is one too many.”

Any child under 18 can get a meal at a site that hosts the Kids Café program; it does not matter where they live. While the sites do not ask for proof of residence, Gianotsos said that some of the sites, such as the Boys & Girls Club, may require membership.

The Food Bank has 119 sites that host the Kids Café program, 18 of those locations are in Adams County. Along with the Northglenn Recreation Center, other close by sites offering the program include Anythink Huron, 9417 Huron St. in Thornton; Anythink Perl Mack, 7611 Hilltop Circle in Denver; Anythink York, 8990 York St. in Thornton; Federal Heights Community Center, 2820 W. 92nd Ave. in Federal Heights; and Mountain Terrace, 3650 W. 84th Ave. in Westminster.