Bama Dining is offering tutoring and a meal free of charge for the children and grandchildren of their employees every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Center.

The program, called Bama Dining Helps Kids Thrive, was started during fall 2009 by Bama Dining administrators Brent Davidson, Ed Robertson and Taneisha Henry.

“We had issues with parents saying, ‘My kid needs help,’” said Henry, a location manager for Bama Dining. “So one day we just started this program to fix that problem.”

Kelsey Faust, marketing manager for Bama Dining, said the program was initiated to show appreciation for the employees’ hard work while simultaneously helping children to be successful in school and reach goals.

“We have had mostly elementary students attend our tutoring program with one or two middle school students participating a few times,” Faust said. “We help them with their homework and prepare for upcoming tests. We also provide them with lessons on math, reading comprehension and spelling through worksheets, flash cards and donated academic books.”

Even though the program currently consists mostly of elementary students, Henry emphasized that the tutoring was being offered to all employees and their families, regardless of age.

“If we had an employee struggling to earn their GED, we’d tutor them, too,” Henry said. “We say this is for the kids and grandkids of Bama Dining employees, but it’s for all those employees as well.”

Bama Dining funds the program itself, with major contributions for supplies and food coming from the company’s managers, employees and the surrounding community. All tutors, like Kamilah Marks, a student supervisor of Bama Dining’s Starbucks, are volunteers.

Marks said the lessons were important, but keeping the children aware of their potential was also crucial.

“During dinner we have a sharing discussion where the students talk about their plans for the future and their endless possibilities,” Marks said.

“Many of the students that attend the tutoring sessions come from families that have never had anyone attend college,” she said. “Therefore, we are trying to instill in the students that they too can continue their education and go on to college.”

Though Bama Dining employs 460 people and every employee qualifies for the program, about five to 10 children show up for the lessons and meal each week.

Henry calls the low attendance an awareness issue, although e-mails are sent once a semester informing employees of the program’s existence and weekly schedule.

“What we do here is something that’s not widely known to the student body or even our employees,” Henry said. “But we do care about our employees, and we do care about our kids.”