Afterschool Meals

While many children who are at-risk of food insecurity receive free or reduced-priced meals at school, they often go without healthy meals during out-of-school time hours. Afterschool programs are one of the most effective ways to provide children with access to nutritious food between one school day and the next while providing educational and enrichment opportunities to support learning, growth, and development. Through the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Children’s Hunger Alliance provides healthy meals to afterschool programs across the state. Children’s Hunger Alliance covers the cost of the meals and coordinates the logistics of food preparation and delivery so that afterschool programs can focus time and resources directly on the students they serve.
As a sponsored program, Children’s Hunger Alliance will provide:
• Training afterschool program staff in record keeping and federal regulations.
• Ensuring delivery of nutritious meals
• Assisting afterschool programs in implementation and ongoing support of the nutrition program.
• Expanding food access opportunities for children.
• Managing fiscal and administrative responsibilities of the nutrition program, including covering the costs of meals.

Children’s Hunger Alliance works with a wide variety of afterschool programs across Ohio - including those run by schools, churches, parks
and recreation centers, libraries, and other youth-serving organizations. Contact us if you’re an entity that:
• Operates an afterschool site where at least half of the students in the nearest school building qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
• Provides organized educational or recreational activities afterschool.
• Uses facilities that accommodate serving food, have adequate restrooms, and comply with fire and health codes. Vendors contracted by
Children’s Hunger Alliance will prepare food and deliver individual, pre-portioned meals. In areas where cold food delivery by a vendor isn’t possible, a fully shelf-stable menu is available. All menus meet or exceed USDA nutritional requirements and consist of the following
components:

• Meat/meat alternative
• Fruits and Vegetables
• Whole grains/bread
• Milk

Shelf-stable food is also provided as a back-up supply for programs should cold food delivery be interrupted, or if additional meals are needed due to fluctuating attendance. Children’s Hunger Alliance recognizes that your staff’s primary focus is on your program’s activities, so we strive to minimize your food- related obligations. You simply agree to:

• Attend training before food service begins.
• Place a standing food order with our team and adjust as attendance or enrollment fluctuates.
• Accept food deliveries and ensure meals adhere to proper temperatures (if applicable)
• Serve the meals at a consistent time each day.
• Create a share table so unopened food can be shared with children who would like a second helping.
• Take daily attendance, record the number of meals served and submit these records to Children’s Hunger Alliance.