Afterschool Snack Guide

ReCharge! Healthy After-school Snack Guide — Snack Programs in Action
Lima City Schools,
Ohio
District Demographics:
• 5,200 students
• 67 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals
• Small urban district
After-school Snack Program:
• Between 250 and 300 children receive a snack each day.
• Five after-school programs located at elementary and middle schools participate.
• All of the programs are in low-income areas.
• The school nutrition department of Lima City Schools has provided snacks to after-school
programs since they first became available during the 1998-1999 school year.
Snack Menus:
• The school district has a policy to offer only healthy snacks, including in the vending machines.
• Some of the most popular after-school snacks include milk and cereal, pretzels and chocolate
milk, yogurt and graham crackers, and nachos and salsa.
• The school nutrition department holds meetings with the after-school program staff to discuss
how the program is going and to find out which snacks the children like.
Process for Serving the Snack:
• The cafeteria staff places the perishable snacks in coolers and the non-perishable snacks on a
shelf in the kitchen. The school district obtained the coolers for free from the American Dairy
Association & Dairy Council Mideast.
• The after-school program collects the snacks, serves them and does the meal count.
• The children eat in the cafeteria and are responsible for cleaning up after themselves. The
janitorial staff is not available to help out.
Funding and Costs:
• The reimbursement covers the food costs, but not all of the labor costs. To ensure that the
program does not cost the district dollars, the school nutrition staff prepares the snack during
the school day.
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