Mary Selhorst has it figured out: “Hunger doesn't happen because of a food shortage. Hunger happens because of a distribution problem.”

        She should know. As coordinator of the FreeStore/FoodBank's Kids Cafe, a program that serves free dinners to 500 children a week in seven locations, she knows hunger.

        She knows, for example, that the Department of Agriculture estimates that 13 million children live in houses with inadequate food supplies. And she knows about the Center on Hunger and Poverty study that showed that malnutrition, even a mild case, at critical stages of development can cause abnormal brain, cognitive and psychological development.

        So here she is on a recent Tuesday at City Heights Housing Community in south Covington, watching volunteers prep an early dinner for 60 or so kids.

        It's summer, it's hot, and heavy food doesn't work. Today we're doing tuna salad, fruit and green salad.

        The kids aren't paying much attention to her right now. It's 30 minutes before dinner and they're busy pasting pictures of food on white paper plates, constructing their idea of a balanced meal.

        “There's a literacy element before dinner,” she says. “At this location we partner with LINK (Literacy In Northern Kentucky). They do the literacy component at 3:30, we do dinner at 4:30. This month they're learning about nutrition.”

        That's the way Kids Cafe works: It partners with neighborhood agencies in seven locations in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Cafe keeps the food coming while the agencies provide homework help or learning programs.

        Amazing isn't it? All of them at those tables, actually learning even though school's out.

        “The changes we've seen are amazing. At the start of the program here 18 months ago, the kids were rowdy, they had limited attention spans and they had difficulty interacting. Now look,” she says, pointing at a table of kids 5 to 13 years old, carefully smearing paste on paper plates.

        LINK executive director Samantha Steelman can't say enough good things about Kids Cafe: “We do pre- and post-testing. In the first year, 98 percent showed improved reading skills. It wouldn't happen without the FreeStore.”

        Ms. Selhorst, a single, 48-year-old Mount Washington resident who grew up in Delhi Township, joined Kids Cafe a year and a half ago after 20 years in the corporate world. “I felt I never made any kind of difference there. Here, I know I do because I see the impact firsthand.”

        Hot dogs and burgers? Never. We serve beef stroganoff, chicken dishes, steaks, pot roasts, things they'd probably never get at home.

        Beef stroganoff? So Ms. Selhorst is a good cook, eh?

        Maybe, but she doesn't cook for Kids Cafe. That's done by students at Cincinnati Cooks, a 10-week food service training program affiliated with the FreeStore.

        “They get the food from us and prepare it. The staff and our volunteers serve it.

        “But that's another thing that's coming out of this program and LINK's participation. I see a willingness on the kids' part to at least try things. A year ago, I can't imagine some of them even willing to taste beef stroganoff.

        “We're so happy with the program that next year we're going to try to expand to 10 locations.”

        That's a very nice job. You really are learning something about balanced meals.

        “Feeding the children is our first goal, but one other thing important in this program is how we provide adult stability. So many adults disappear from their lives. We're here to show them adults can provide stability.”

        Ms. Selhorst has a plan for the parents, too. “Next year, we hope to reach out to adults. We think it will be a challenge, but we want to find out their problems and help solve them. It took us a year to gain the trust of the children, and we know the adults may be more difficult.

        “But once we have the trust, we can help. Like problems with health insurance or food stamps. Or maybe help them navigate the system and find work. Assistance is out there for all these needs, if people only know how to find it.

        “That's also what I meant about hunger: The food is out there. People just need to know how to find it.”

        A lot more kids come for dinner than for learning, but we expect that.

        The kids at City Heights right now aren't having any trouble finding the food. There's a line at the door signing in, and another line at the counter, waiting to heap fresh rolls with tons of tuna.

        “Look how orderly and polite. It's something else you didn't see a year and a half ago,” Ms. Selhorst says.

        “It's something really good that has come out of Kids Cafe,” Ms. Steelman adds. “The kids are showing respect for each other. And for us. If you stay till the end, you'll see them come over and ask if they can help us clean up. It's something that comes out of good and consistent meals.”

        Something else that comes out of it is improved grades. Ms. Selhorst has a favorite example: “We had one child at the start of this program who brought home a report card with U (unsatisfactory) in 24 blocks. A year later he brought home one with 24 Es (excellent). That's progress you can feel good about.”

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