Through working closely with child care providers in Virginia, ChildSavers has listened and learned that child care deserts are not the only deserts effecting our communities’ youngest children and their families—food deserts and lack of access to nutritious food continues to impact under-resourced communities.
The Child and Adult Food Care Program (CACFP) is a federal program that gives cash reimbursement to child care providers for the nutritious meals and snacks they serve to the children in their care; ChildSavers is part of this nationwide network that administers federal CACFP in Virginia.
Many child care programs are struggling to remain open due to mounting expenses and lack of existing supports, as Shemik Sellars, Owner/Director of Legacy-House Preschool, explains—“Food costs are at an all time high, and without this program it would be even more difficult for me to manage the expenses of quality food options that we provide. It warms my heart to be able to provide our children in care with balanced meals and snacks each day.”
By providing timely reimbursement for food purchased for children in their programs, child care programs and providers can increase profits and keep their businesses viable.
ChildSavers CACFP Program Supervisor Hali J. Riley shares that she and her team “are passionate about this work because food is life. This program helps to address issues such as food insecurity and other inequities by directly impacting children and families.”
The CACFP team also provides trainings on such topics as the building blocks of healthy eating and food safety, to help ensure programs have the most up to date knowledge to share with families. The importance of healthy eating cannot be underestimated.”
Click here to learn more about the program and how to enroll.
