• SNAP/Food Stamps
  • Disaster SNAP/Food Stamps
  • SNAP/Food Stamp Eligibility
  • Participation: Gaps in Coverage and Counter-cyclical Impact
  • SNAP/Food Stamp Historic Trends: 1998-2010
  • Homeless Persons' Rights under the SNAP/Food Stamp Program
• School Breakfast and Lunch
  • School Meal Eligibility
  • School Meal Nutrition Standards
  • Local School Wellness Policies
  • National School Lunch Program
  • School Breakfast Program
  • School Breakfast State/Local Data Report Toolkit
  • School Breakfast Outreach
  • Breakfast in the Classroom
• Afterschool Nutrition Programs
  • FRAC's Afterschool Meals Guide
  • Reimbursement Rates
  • Model Programs
  • Outreach Materials
  • Standards of Excellence - Afterschool Programs
  • Model Advocacy Efforts - Afterschool
  • Snack and Meal FAQ
  • NSLP Afterschool Snacks
  • Model Afterschool Snacks and Suppers
• Summer Nutrition Programs
  • Summer Food Site Locator 2011
  • Summer Reimbursement Rates
  • Summer FAQ
  • Nutrition Guidelines
  • Model Summer Programs
  • Model Advocacy Efforts - Summer Programs
  • Summer Nutrition Toolkit
  • State Summer Outreach Materials Clearinghouse
  • Standards of Excellence - Summer Programs
• Child and Adult Care Food Program
  • CACFP Eligibility & Reimbursement
  • Child Care Food Program Wellness Tool Kit
• WIC (Women, Infants and Children)
  • New Food Package Toolkit
  • Making WIC Work in Multicultural Communities
• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
  • FFVP Outreach
  • FFVP Planning Tool
• Other Programs

Successful Program Models

Family League of Baltimore City Inc. – Maryland
Neighbors for Kids – Depoe Bay, Oregon
Hickman Mills School District – Kansas City, Missouri
New London Public Schools – New London, Connecticut

Family League of Baltimore City Inc. – Maryland
Providing Meals to More than 100 Afterschool Programs

Afterschool Meal Challenges
Many small afterschool programs do not have the administrative capacity to operate the Afterschool Meal Program. Afterschool programs may need to cover their meal costs prior to receiving their reimbursement, and small programs that operate on a shoestring budget may have trouble “fronting” the funds. Other programs may not have a kitchen or food service experience and have difficulty getting a vendor to prepare and deliver a relatively small number of meals at an affordable price.

Successful Practices
One way to overcome these barriers is for a larger organization to sponsor Afterschool Meals for multiple afterschool programs in the community. The Family League of Baltimore takes on this role for more than one hundred afterschool programs in Maryland, making healthy nutritious after school meals a reality for 7,000 children and teens.

• The Family League assists afterschool programs with the process of becoming sites, such as meeting the health and safety requirements.
• As a sponsor, Family League trains the afterschool program staff to run a safe and effective meal program and to manage the site paperwork, such as the meal count. The training is offered every six months.
• The Family League secured the contract with a food vendor, Business Food Solutions, which offers nutritious meals to all participating programs.
• The vendor delivers the meals to organizations each day.
• The Family League manages the lion’s share of the paperwork and administrative responsibilities for the afterschool programs.

Positive Outcomes

• The Family League’s sponsorship of the Afterschool Meal Program allows the afterschool programs to focus on programming.
• Since the Family League started providing meals, there has been an increase in children and teens participating in the afterschool programs they serve.

The Family League of Baltimore City, Inc. is a quasi-governmental nonprofit organization that works with a range of partners to develop and implement initiatives that improve the well-being of Baltimore’s children, youth and families.

Neighbors for Kids – Depoe Bay, Oregon
Operating a Small Afterschool Meal Program Site

Afterschool Meal Program Challenges
Small afterschool programs do not always have the staff time, capacity, or facilities to provide an afterschool meal to a small group of children.

Successful Practices
Neighbors for Kids is a successful nonprofit organization in a small Oregon community that offers various afterschool activities that include tutoring programs, music lessons, and community service projects. Neighbors started offering summer meals through the Summer Food Service Program and after two years it decided to also offer the Afterschool Meal Program. The organization has participated in the Afterschool Meal Program for four years, serving 25 to 40 children during the school year. Neighbors for Kids received a grant of $35,000 plus several smaller grants from various grant foundations to build a full-service kitchen at the community center, so it is able to prepare its meals on-site and use fresh ingredients. Vended meals were served before the completion of the kitchen.

• Neighbors for Kids worked closely with the Oregon Department of Education to complete the application process.
• The director of the program keeps organized records to ensure that the program runs smoothly and the reimbursement is received in a timely manner.
• The director clips coupons from the newspaper as one method of cutting costs.
• He shops for food weekly at a local grocery store and, follows a strict grocery list that includes the exact ingredients/amounts of food needed for the week.
• Milk is the only product delivered directly to the program.
• A part-time chef makes all the meals on-site and from scratch.
• The afterschool program is run by a group of dedicated staff and volunteers.

Positive Outcomes

• The response from the children and their parents has been extremely positive.
• Children who might otherwise go hungry after the school day ends are instead provided with a healthy meal.

Neighbors for Kids provides educational enrichment, citizenship training and recreational activities for youth.

Menus (Publisher file)

Hickman Mills School District – Kansas City, Missouri
School Nutrition Department Provides Afterschool Meals

Afterschool Meal Program Challenges
Afterschool programs located in schools would benefit from the Afterschool Meals Program but often cannot make their own meals. However, the school nutrition department has the resources to provide the meals. Afterschool programs can work with the school nutrition director to provide meals for children.

Successful Practices
The Hickman Mills School District’s school nutrition department has offered the Afterschool Meal Program for three years to children in kindergarten through seventh grade at nine different sites. The meals are served Monday through Friday and are a combination of hot and cold meals.

• The school nutrition departments works closely with the afterschool program staff to distribute the meals and ensure that it is served in a safe, structured and clean environment.
• The school nutrition director keeps organized records and each kitchen employee submits weekly paperwork to the main office. This ensures that the program runs smoothly and the reimbursement is received in a timely manner.
• The afterschool program coordinators work with the nutrition service employees to distribute the meals to children and fill out the meal count.
• The school nutrition department continuously communicates with the children about the food and modifies the menus to give children meals that they enjoy most.

Positive Outcomes

• The program is financially viable. In fact, the school nutrition department was able to promote nine part-time staff to full-time positions once they began receiving the federal funds for the Afterschool Meal Program.
• When the school switched from a snack to a full meal they noticed that more children participated in the program.
• Children are more satisfied with a full mean and their parents offer positive feedback on the program.

The Hickman Mills School District offers afterschool programming that includes tutoring, physical activities for youth and various clubs.

Menus (Excel file)

New London Public Schools – New London, Connecticut
School Nutrition Department Provides Afterschool Meals to Children in Connecticut

Afterschool Meal Program Challenges
Children who participate in afterschool programs enjoy the benefits of educational enrichment and physical activity. However, at the end of the school day children are often hungry and unable to concentrate until they have a nutritious meal. Schools often have the resources to provide meals to children. If afterschool programs can partner with the school nutrition directors it is possible for children to receive healthy meals and concentrate on their afterschool activities.

Successful Practices
The New London Public School’s nutrition department has successfully offered the Afterschool Meal Program, beginning in 2011, to children in middle and high school at three different sites. The meals are served Monday through Friday and are a combination of hot and cold meals.

• The school nutrition department prepares nutritious meals at the New London Middle School and provides meals to students in afterschool programming at neighboring schools.
• The food service staff works with the afterschool coordinators to distribute the meals to children who participate in afterschool enrichment programs.
• The school nutrition department uses one staff person and a van to deliver the meals to the other sites.
• The school nutrition director keeps organized records and the staff along with the after school coordinators submit their paperwork in a timely manner to the nutrition department. This ensures that the program runs smoothly and the reimbursement is received on schedule.
• The school nutrition department monitors the meals that children eat and if there is a meal that does not appeal to them, the menus are modified to give children meals that they enjoy most.

Positive Outcomes

• The program is financially viable and has the full support of the superintendant and the parents.
• 80 percent of student at the New London Public Schools qualify for free or reduced price meals so the Afterschool Meal Program provides meals to children who might not otherwise have a healthy meal when the school day ends.

The New London Public schools offer afterschool programming that includes tutoring, physical activities for youth, computer classes, chess club, dance club and several other activities.

Menus (Excel file)