In Fla. county, no hungry school-age child left behind

• Non-profit feeds about 500 kids in Brevard County, Fla.
• Students receive food package each Friday to bring home

Organizers of The Children's Hunger Project in Brevard County, Fla., employ a very basic strategy to provide food for low-income elementary students.

"We have a nine-word business plan: 'See a hungry kid. Buy food. Feed the kid.' And we keep the operation that simple," co-founder Bob Barnes said.

"We simply raise money. We buy food. We package it up. We deliver it to the school. The kids get fed," he said.

Last May, The Children's Hunger Project debuted in co-founder Sam Jordan's kitchen in Melbourne and began packing meals for 27 impoverished students at Riviera Elementary in Palm Bay. The fast-growing non-profit now feeds about 500 kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at a dozen elementary schools.

The goal: feed 1,000 children by the end of the school year, said David Cohen, a financial adviser who donated $15,000 to the fledgling charity and serves as board president.

The group spends about $150 to feed each child throughout the 38-week school year. Each Friday, students receive a food package containing two cans of precooked pasta and milk, juice, cereal, a fruit cup and a snack. These edibles can be eaten without cooking or adult supervision, Barnes said, in case the children live in the woods or a vehicle.

Brevard County's economy has been rocked by Florida's real-estate crisis and layoffs at Kennedy Space Center, particularly since the shuttle program ended. Cohen called space layoffs "the main driver" behind the non-profit's launch.

"We lost 5,000 jobs. Engineering jobs These are people earning $60,000 to $80,000 a year. The trickle-down effect of that is huge," Cohen said.

In August, The Children's Hunger Project moved into its first permanent home, a Melbourne suite that serves as a business office, warehouse, and packing-distribution center. Last month, the group bought a delivery van.

To raise funds, the Melbourne Municipal Band performed three charitable children's concerts in late September. A locally produced cooking television show donated proceeds from an independent filmmakers' festival. The Rotary Club of Suntree organized a restaurant-tasting event.

"The community has just responded in a remarkable way," Barnes said. "People's hearts, quite frankly, are touched because kids are going hungry in their own backyard. And they want to do something."

Neale also reports for Florida Today in Melbourne