Become A Sponsor Or Site
The At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program provides nutritious meals and snacks in a safe, supervised location. For many kids, this is the only chance to get a healthy meal after the school day ends.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 approved by Congress permanently authorized the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program (ARAMP) as part of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Through ARAMP, the USDA provides reimbursements for snacks and meals served by enrichment programs in areas where at least 50 percent of students are eligible for free/reduced-price meals.
Do you want to be an ARAMP sponsor or site?
- CLICK HERE if you are with an SFA in North Carolina.
- CLICK HERE if you are any organization other than an SFA.
- To begin the streamlined application for SFAs in NC, contact:
Karla Wheeler
Assistant Chief
Management and Operations Unit, School Nutrition Services
NC Department of Public Instruction
Karla.Wheeler@dpi.nc.gov
PERSPECTIVE
SAVE MONEY! Many afterschool programs already feed students using their own funds because they recognize that children need healthy food to stay focused and active through the afternoon and into the evening. By participating in ARAMP, organizations can reallocate money previously used on food and apply the funding for other programming needs. Additionally, programs that have added meals report an increase in attendance and improvements in student behavior.
Nationally, in the five years after the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program became a permanent component of the CACFP, the number of suppers served annually more than quadrupled. In FY 2015, schools and other organizations served more than 390 million USDA-reimbursed snacks and meals to children participating in afterschool activities. Despite this enormous growth, there is still a big gap: In the US, only 1 afterschool snack or meal is served for every 10 school lunches served to kids in need.
IN NORTH CAROLINA
The NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) administers CACFP and ARAMP in our state. Based on March 2016 data provided by DHHS for ARAMP:
- 28 sponsoring organizations and 288 sites served a total of 298,195 meals and snacks, with an average daily attendance of 16,487 children.
- Yet, consistent with the gap seen nationally, NC data corresponds to less than 1 afterschool snack or meal for every 20 lunches, reaching only 2.6% of children in NC who received free/reduced-price lunch at school. NC ranks 49th out of 51 nationally.
- Approximately 2/3 of our NC counties do not have a CACFP ARAMP site.
No Kid Hungry NC is committed to helping you feed children across the state and we have team members ready to help you get you started with ARAMP! Please contact Gina Tripicchio with questions about ARAMP or to request more information.
As of March 2016, less than 3% of children in North Carolina who received free/reduced-price lunch at school ALSO received a healthy afterschool snack or meal at an ARAMP meal site.