Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region

CACFP Success Story

Girls Inc. Albany, NY

 

 

Prior to enrolling in CACFP, the Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region’s afterschool program located in Albany relied on donations and a very small budget to use at their local food bank to provide snacks to their participants. Due to the limited resources, there were days when snacks weren’t able to be provided, and most snacks given weren’t healthy. Since enrolling in CACFP, the program is now able to provide healthy snacks to their students each day they attend. They work with a vendor to acquire most of their snacks and supplement the vendor’s options with perishable items purchased from a local grocery store. The site is responsible for cutting and measuring food, so to keep snack preparation as easy as possible, most of the snacks provided are served cold. Their participants love the healthy options, such as fresh fruit, yogurt with granola and fruit, whole grain rich muffins, and assorted crackers.

Girls Inc.’s advice to afterschool and child care providers interested in enrolling in CACFP is to attend the informative trainings offered by the New York State Department of Health to learn more about CACFP administration. Once enrolled, they recommend the menu be diversified to keep the children in favor of the snacks. Girls Inc. Director of Site Based Programs, Diana Suits, encourages afterschool and child care providers to enroll for CACFP, as “it allows you to provide food for your [members] that is healthy and consistent.”