These programs serve 2,500 kindergarten through fifth grade children from diverse economic backgrounds. The YMCA was serving a minimal snack, the cost of which was covered by program funds. It was not receiving any federal child nutrition dollars. The YMCA of the USA also sent out a one page fact sheet to its affiliates. Since the conference, Schirmer has been pulling together information, filling out paperwork, talking to the state administering agency, and going through the site visit that is required for participation.
Snack time can enhance social relationships, teach responsibility, and build communication skills.
The need for quality afterschool programs has grown dramatically as more and more parents work outside the home, making the building blocks that the child nutrition programs can provide to children in afterschool programs increasingly important. Existing programs are not sufficient to meet the increasing need. During the time when parents are still at work and the school day has ended, youth are most likely to get into trouble or engage in risky behavior. On school days, juvenile crime peaks between the hours of three and six. This is also the time when children are most likely to become victims of crimes and when teenage girls are at the highest risk of becoming pregnant.