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February 2017 eNews
$20,000 Scholarships Awarded We are excited to announce the recipients of the scholarships for the National CACFP Conference. All the applicants' passion and commitment to the children and adults they serve was evident and moving. We truly wish we could offer a scholarship to everyone.
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REGISTER BY FEBRUARY 15 TO SAVE $75 EARLY Registration Savings If you are looking for over 120 hours of training opportunities, check out the National CACFP Conference schedule, workshops, featured programs, and preconference training! Join over 1,200 of your colleagues in San Diego this April. Get a discount. |
MEMBER SHOWCASE Meet Wanetta Gerlack, Virginia Miller, and Kelly Rood These CACFP participating home care providers from Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Texas share their passion for caring for children and ensuring their kids get nutritious, healthy foods while also offering a nurturing and imaginative environment. Virginia recognizes, "There are only five years kids have to be children. Having the opportunity to really be a child and have fun is very important." Kelly believes, "Nutrition is not always easy to teach, but with an amazing garden, children learn and share new nutritional experiences every day." Wanetta shares, ""We don't do this for the accolades. We do this for the little hugs we get every morning when they come in and the hugs we get every evening when they go." We think that sums it up for everyone working in CACFP. |
USDA FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICES Policy Memo Summary We've put together a quick note highlighting why this recent memo from the USDA matter most to you: Feeding Infants and Meal Pattern Requirements in the CACFP; Q&A |
#ncasupersnack How do you CACFP Snack? Tell Us All & Win $100 We know that the habits child care providers instill in children at an early age will become life-long healthy choices. We also know that it's easy to get into the snack rut. So we're asking everyone, "How Do you CACFP Snack?" Post your healthy CACFP creditable snack to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag @NationalCACFP. Then hashtag your photo and share your #ncasupersnack! Whoever has the most likes, shares, or favorites by March 15th will win $100 and be featured in our eNews and conference. We'll make a free, downloadable #ncasupersnack inspiration booklet and everyone wins! |
Reducing Food Waste in Out-of-School Time In collaboration with the Public Health Law Center, the National Recreation and Parks Association recently published the Reducing Food Waste in Out-of-School Time Best Practices Guide. This best practices guide provides strategies for reducing food waste at sites that participate in the federal nutrition programs (SFSP, CACFP, NSLP) and it includes guidance on adhering to state and local policies, assessing food waste within your programs, and resources and tools for reducing the amount of waste generated as well as successful examples from local park and recreation agencies. Download the Best Practices Guide |
National CACFP Week March 12-18, 2017 It's time to work together to raise awareness across the nation about the Child and Adult Care Food Program.When we all join forces and work together the message we provide is stronger and will receive more attention! We've developed neighborhood flyers, parent letters, nutrition education materials, and sample letters to your governor, congressmen, senators, and president. Check out the sample press release and provider connections. Celebrate CACFP! Download Tool-Kit, Flyers, and Printables |
Share Your Time & Enter to Win $500 The National CACFP Sponsors Association has partnered with the Smarter Lunchrooms National Office (part of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab) and would like to learn more about your child care sites. Participation in our survey will be very helpful in identifying Smarter Mealtimes strategies, attitudes, and experiences that can improve child care sites participating in the CACFP. Four participants will be chosen to receive a $500 gift card at the end of the study by random drawing. |
Seeking Major Grant Applicants Now's your opportunity to enhance your health and wellness programming in your before/afterschool or summer camp programs! The National Recreation and Park Association has announced the availability of $1 million in funds from the Walmart Foundation to support children's health and wellness through park and recreation out-of-school time (OST) programs.
Grantees will receive funding to support their efforts to:
Funding is expected to range from $25,000-$35,000 and can be used to support programmatic expenses like marketing, transportation, large equipment purchases, nutrition education materials and more! Deadline is March 8, 2017. |
Smart From the Start Awards Win a Playground! The Smart from the Start Awards are designed to encourage preschool teachers to create practical, long-term improvements in nutrition and physical activity at their preschool. By the end of this school year, Smart from the Start will have awarded almost 50 grants helping families, community members, students, and faculty make life-changing decisions for a healthier lifestyle. Deadline is March 2, 2017. |
READ ALOUD 15 MINUTES March is Read Aloud Month As care givers for over 4 million children who work to ensure healthy access to food through CACFP, we can also work together to also feed childrens' minds. Join THE Read Aloud 15 Minutes Movement and the #NationalCACFP community in promoting daily read aloud time. Read Aloud partners are united behind the idea that 15 minutes of daily reading aloud from birth to age 8 can change the face of education, nationally. According to Read Aloud, reading aloud is the single most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to help a child prepare for reading and learning and yet more than half the children in this country - 13 million children - will not hear a bedtime story tonight. Share the message with bookmarks, handouts, and posters (English/Spanish). |
WELCOME INDUSTRY PARTNERS JA Foodservice JA Foodservice has been serving feeding programs since 1993. They distribute thousands of meals per day to schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, food banks and more. JA Foodservice has been providing affordable USDA funded Shelf Stable Meal Kits for 10 years working with CACFP and SFSP sponsors all over the United States. |
Nutrition Matters Nutrition Matters provides creative and colorful nutrition education tools, curriculums and training materials for child care providers and parents. Visit our website for a variety of books, cards and tear sheets with meal and snack ideas, recipes and parenting tips written by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in Public Health Nutrition. |
USDA REPORT: USDA recently issued Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015. This report is also known as "The Cost of Raising a Child." USDA has been tracking the cost of raising a child since 1960 and this analysis examines expenses by age of child, household income, budgetary component, and region of the country.Cost of Raising A Child Read More |
Holiday Activities for February Ground Hog Day, Valentine's Day, and President's Day As a member benefit, NCA has created these activity newsletters for you to share with your child care providers and centers for both their use and for them to share with families -- connecting CACFP to quality child care. To distribute, simply click on the activity newsletter you'd like to use, save the file to your desktop and email them directly to your providers or print and deliver them at your next visit. We'd love your feedback or to know if there is a subject you'd like us to include as we create these for our members. Up next month? Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, and Spring. As our valentine gift to our friends, here's President's Day! |
CACFP Job Board Do you have a job opportunity in your child nutrition program you would like to share with the CACFP Community? Please contact us and we'll get a short summary and link to your application posted on our website. Email Job Posting Looking for a position? Check our website! Be sure to get a competitive advantage and get your CACFP Professional Certification! Learn More |
Trending on Facebook Join the #NationalCACFP community on facebook for crafts, snacks and other clever ideas shared daily. Get a dose of what's in the news, policy changes, and CACFP specific issues. Resources, printables, and more! Check It Out Please Forward Share our CACFP Connections with your colleagues and friends so they can get our eNews delivered directly to their inbox! Subscribe Here Find A Sponsor Looking to join the food program? Find a Sponsor and receive reimbursement for serving healthy foods! Find A Sponsor |
