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Want to start a Kids Care Club? Register now to start helping others! Not sure if you're ready to register? Sign up to take a Sneak Peek at this month's project, and learn about the benefits of membership.

 

National Hunger Awareness Month

Eat Wise - Exercise!™
Snack Attack Sacks

June is National Hunger Awareness Month and it is also Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month. 

According to the United States Department of Agriculture* (USDA), 18 million students are at risk of going hungry when the school year ends and school lunches are no longer available. Your club can help children who might have depended on these programs or who are at risk of being hungry by assembling Eat Wise - Exercise!™ Snack Attack Sacks.

Healthy snacks provide additional daily nutrients, especially through fresh fruit and vegetables. Healthy snacks keep children's brains and bodies moving. Fresh fruit and vegetables, granola bars, low fat cheese, yogurt, plain popcorn and raisins are good snacks. They provide nutrients for today and healthy bodies for tomorrow.

Club members can learn how to eat healthy snacks by assembling Eat Wise - Exercise!™ Snack Attack Sacks for other children and families in shelters, low-income day care or community centers, or places such as Ronald McDonald Houses and soup kitchens.

 

Materials Needed: banana

  • Lunch bags and markers, crayons, stickers
  • Healthy snack food such as:
    • Fresh fruit
    • Canned fruit or fruit packs
    • Raisins, dried fruit
    • Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
    • Graham crackers
    • Rice cake or popcorn cakes
    • Small jars of peanut butter
    • Whole grain cereal
    • Juice boxes of 100% juice 

Steps Involved:

  1. Distribute the Healthy Eating -- Facts for Kids fact sheet.
  2. Ask them what foods they think are healthy and what foods are not healthy or "junk" foods and why.
  3. Discuss with your club members why they should eat nutritious snacks on a regular basis. Facilitators can read the Issues Education Malnutrition and Poverty sheet or read through the Eat Wise Exercise! Food Rules project for more information.
  4. Determine whom your recipients will be and contact the organization. Tell them you would like to prepare healthy snack sacks for them. Ask if they have any specific needs or requirements. Ask how many snack sacks they could use.
  5. Ask if someone from the agency can come to your club to talk about the people you will be helping.
  6. Decide how you will collect your snacks - through your club members, school, organization and/or community. Will you involve local merchants to help you collect snacks? See the local merchant letter in Eat Wise - Exercise!™ Project Tool Kit.
  7. Collect your items and call a meeting to decorate and assemble the Snack Attack Sacks™.
  8. Enclose copies of the Eat Wise - Exercise!™ (EWE)Healthy Eating Fact Sheet for Kids, Exercise Fact Sheet for Kids or the EWE Brochure found in the EWE Project Tool Kit in the sack .
  9. Enclose a hand written note from "A kid who cares."
  10. Complete a Club Response Card and send us a picture so we can post your projects in Club Highlights!

Alternative Project:  Pennies for Popsicles

Kindergarten club members of the Edward Everett Kids Care Club in Dorchester, MA came up with a very cool and refreshing idea!  After learning about children living in shelters, they thought the kids would enjoy popsicles during the hot summer months.  They created the Pennies for Popsicles project and invited other classes to compete in collecting the most pennies.  The winning class earned a popsicle party for their class.  They collected 19,447 pennies! 

*For more information on how your organization can participate, click on the USDA's Summer Food Service Program.  This federal program approves sponsors at the local level including school districts, local government agencies, camps or private nonprofit organizations to provide free meals to children at a central site, such as a school or community center.  The local organization receives payments from USDA through their State agencies for the meals they serve.

Contact the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Public Information Staff at 703-305-2286.