In an effort to combat childhood hunger, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is partnering with the Children’s Hunger Alliance to bring after-school snack service to five branch locations: Avondale, College Hill, Pleasant Ridge, Price Hill and Walnut Hills.
Beginning in March, the snack service program is providing items — such as milk, fruit, vegetables with dip, oatmeal bars, yogurt, pretzels, string cheese sticks, cereal bars, and muffins — to the locations along with some shelf-stable snacks to have on hand should there be an unexpected increase in students on any given day.
“We are piloting the service at these five locations in order to assess how well it serves the children in our communities. The goal is to eventually expand the snack program to more sites,” said Kimber L. Fender, the Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Director of the Library.
Snacks are delivered to the branches in the afternoon Monday through Friday, except days the library is closed for a holiday. Snacks are for youth 18 years old and under who are present for Homework Help or another library afterschool program. Service times vary by branch:
- Avondale 2:45-3:15 p.m. and 4:45-5:15 p.m.
- College Hill 2:30-3 p.m. and 4-4:30 p.m.
- Pleasant Ridge 3:30-4 p.m. 4:30-5 p.m.
- Price Hill 3-3:30 p.m. and 3:30-4 p.m.
- Walnut Hills 3-3:30 p.m. and 3:30-4 p.m.
According to the Children’s Hunger Alliance website, more than 630,000 children across Ohio live in food insecure households. That means more than one in four children are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. For more information, call 513-369-6900 or visit www.CincinnatiLibrary.org.
