Benefits of the Afterschool Meals Program (AMP)

The Afterschool Meals Program is a federal child nutrition program that provides essential resources to ensure that high quality, nutritious meals are available to all children and youth. It is one tool that is available in Florida, and nationwide, to address the issue of childhood hunger.

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PROGRAM THERE ARE MANY BENEFITS THAT THE AFTERSCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM PROVIDES:

The Afterschool Meals Program (AMP) provides nutrition to children who might otherwise go hungry. According to the USDA, in 2016, 22.7% of children 18 years and younger in Florida lived in food insecure households. This and other recent hunger data can be found by using the Feeding America Map the Meal Gap tool. For many children, AMP may provide the last complete meal they receive until the next school day.

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The AMP provides programs with a source of sustainable federal funding to serve nutritious food. Participating sites can reallocate funds previously spent on food to strengthen programming, hire staff, purchase materials, or offer scholarships for more participants. Funding for the AMP can add up; an afterschool program serving a meal to 50 children five nights a week during the school year could leverage more than $31,000 in federal reimbursement to purchase food and supplies for the program. Adding a snack could leverage an additional $7,500.