Kids who spend their afternoons at the Siloam Springs Boys and Girls Club now get a free healthy after-school snack.
The Boys and Girls Club of Western Benton County launched the healthy after-school snack program last Wednesday at its Siloam Springs location, according to Kyle Scogin, director of operations and resource development.
The club serves an average of about 150 children in its after-school program, according to Scogin. The snacks help tide students over until they go home for supper -- some kids stay at the Boys and Girls Club as late as 7 p.m.
Every child will receive a snack that includes two components of the Food and Drug Administration food pyramid, Scogin said. Menus will be rotated so that kids get five different combinations each week. Some examples include animal crackers with yogurt, juice boxes with graham crackers, and cheese sticks with pretzels.
The idea to offer the healthy-snack program came from parent feedback, Scogin said. The Siloam Springs club has always offered a breakfast and lunch program during the summer. In the past the club sometimes offered donated after-school snacks. Kids also had the option of buying food out of a vending machine that offers healthy options, he said.
Older students often walked to a nearby gas station when they got off the school bus and bought items such as soda and candy bars before coming to the club, Scogin said.
Children and parents seem to love the new program, Scogin said. In the first three days there was more than a 90 percent participation rate, with 120 to 150 snacks served each day.
The snacks are "really good," according to Sophia Lang and Hope Pearson, both age 10. The two girls were sharing a table and eating yogurt and graham crackers on Friday afternoon.
Lang said the snacks keep kids happy after school. She said her favorite snacks were goldfish crackers.
Pearson said she liked the snack program because they ate healthier food and saved money, compared to when they walked from the school bus to the gas station for snacks.
The after-school snack program is funded by the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which reimburses the Boys and Girls Club for the food, Scogin said. In order to qualify for the program, an organization must focus on providing care for children after school or on the weekends, holidays or school vacations, provide a structured and supervised environment, include education or enrichment activities, and be located in an eligible area.
The majority of the children at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Benton County's Gravette location receive a snack through another program before they arrive at the club, Scogin said. Once the snack program is established in Siloam Springs, the club will look at expanding it to the Gravette location for the kids that come strait to the club after school, Scogin said.
General News on 10/08/2014