By LAUREN KLOSE
Staff Writer
In the Capital Region, as many as 30 percent of at-risk children go to bed hungry each night. This statistic shocked Pastor Charlie Muller, so 19 years ago he asked himself what could he do to help
these children. The answer: a mobile smoothie bus to help distribute much needed nutrients and fruit to children all over the Albany area.
The whole idea for City Kids Smoothies came about after Muller read an article in The Times Union about how the children living in the inner city were not looking forward to their summer vacation because they wouldn’t be getting the government funded breakfasts and lunches from their schools. Currently, the program is run by the Victory Christian Church Outreach Ministries, where Muller has been the pastor for the past 19 years. What started out as simply making 20 lunches became something far bigger than Muller ever imagined.
After that, they decided to launch a mobile lunch program to feed kids out on the street by the thousands. Using trucks and storing the food in coolers, they would hand out the lunches to children in the Albany area.
The ministry has also opened the Dream Center at 15 Warren St. in downtown Albany, to offer a place for children and others to take classes on things such as learning to cook and how to use computers. Special events are also held at the Dream Center, which is still a work in progress, said Muller. Ultimately they would like to have a homework lab in the building where children could receive help with their school work. They realized though, that there were still some kids out there that they weren’t able to reach.
So two years ago, when Muller asked an executive from Walmart if they could have anything to support their cause of helping inner city children, what would it be, Muller took the opportunity to reach out to even more children. He had always dreamed of having a smoothie truck, which would make it easier to get the same amount of nutrients as lunch but to children in a faster and quicker way. Walmart then gave them a grant to pay for the smoothie truck as well as donating all of the fruit they need.
them out to the kids. Photo Credit: Lauren Klose
While truck and fruit were both paid for, the program, which runs on donations, still has to pay for the base mixture which costs $12 a bottle to yield six to eight smoothies, as well as the diesel gas for the truck, which is also part electric.
Currently they are trying to win another vehicle through a program called 100 cars for good. Out of 25,000 charities, 250 were selected for the contest, and on Wednesday, Oct. 16, people will vote for the charity they would like to receive the new vehicle. Each charity was told to submit what kind of vehicle they would like. City Kid Smoothies would receive a Toyota Sienna van and hopes to transform it into a second smoothie truck.
“Our goal is to have a smoothie truck in every city,” said Muller. He is currently trying to network with other churches and programs to get them involved with the idea. Muller is working to contact Walmart again to see if they can get a national grant to get more trucks out on the streets.
In the past, the program has gone to places such as Schoharie after recent flood devastation to hand out smoothies to those affected and even Hacklesburg, Alabama after a tornado hit to serve National Guard members.
On a regular basis, they go to the local parks on Saturdays and Sundays to hand out smoothies when the kids don’t get the unsubsidized meals from their schools. However, if the government remains shut down, it could eventually affect the meals children receive at school. “That’s where we come in,” said Muller.
During the summer, they reached out to the camps in the area to ensure that children are still getting enough nutrients while school is out of session. Now that school has started, they have begun handing smoothies out before school.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Muller and employee Joel Agnes drove out to Giffen Memorial Elementary school to hand out strawberry lemonade and cherry flavored smoothies as well as oranges to the children as they waited for school to start. The children crowded around as both Muller and Agnes poured smoothies. A few parents dropping off their kids were thrilled, and encouraged their children to take a smoothie before heading to class.
“These are fruitalicious,” said Damarvo Humbert, a second grader at Giffen. “You have to teach me the recipe!”
While mixing the ingredients for more smoothies that morning, Anges said he originally started as a volunteer, spending a lot of his time at the center helping out. Since then, he has been involved with the smoothie truck, thrift stores, and kitchens at the church’s two centers. To many Albany children, Agnes is known as “Mr. Smoothie Man.”
Dawn Sabatino, an employee at Giffen, thought it was great that the kids were getting something healthy instead of junk food.
“I think it’s terrific and our children love fruit,” said Kathy Spinelli, a teacher’s assistant at the school.
A new program coming out in the next few weeks is City Kid Cupcakes, where children will go to the Dream Center and make cupcakes and cookies before going out to sell them. The money will go directly to the children to help pay for essentials like school supplies and clothes.
