(EVESHAM) – New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn and state and local officials today marked Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Week with a visit to Children of America Day Care Center in Burlington County.

The visit highlighted the meal program at the Children of America (COA) facility in the Marlton section of Evesham, which feeds approximately 150 pre-school children five days a week. The children receive breakfast, lunch and then an afternoon snack.

“Children of America is an outstanding partner and this site is an example of how the Child and Adult Care Food Program provides nutritious meals to thousands of New Jersey children and adults,” NJDA Secretary Ed Wengryn said. “This program supports child and adult care centers and emergency shelters by offering meals and snacks that help develop healthy eating patterns. This program in New Jersey continues to grow and we strongly encourage participation.”

In New Jersey, COA operates seven CACFP infant and preschool childcare programs and an outside-school-hours afterschool meal program at each site. Currently, COA serves nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snack meals to over 2,000 New Jersey children through their different programs offered at their current sponsorship.

“The families and the children we serve depend on these meals and the services that we offer,” Children of America Vice President/Executive Director Phil Cantore said. “CACFP greatly enhances our ability to serve healthy food to our children and allows them the opportunity to create healthy eating habits at a young age that can benefit them for a lifetime.”

COA operates more than 60 locations across 15 states, with nearly all participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). As part of its Mind & Body Matters program, CACFP is the foundation of its “Apple-A-Day” nutrition initiative, ensuring children are exposed to nutritious meals that support learning and growth.

New Jersey’s 2,732 CACFP sites provide meals and snacks to 106,000 eligible child participants at shelters, child day care centers, family day care homes, after-school care programs, and adults in adult day care centers each weekday. There are  672 CACFP sponsors in New Jersey.

While nationwide CACFP participation is declining, New Jersey CACFP continues to grow and experience program expansion with over 300 new sponsors currently submitting applications seeking to participate in CACFP to support statewide day care meal programs.  The New Jersey CACFP Adult Meal Program is recognized as the fourth largest in the nation. 

National CACFP Week is an educational and informational campaign designed to raise awareness of how the Child and Adult Care Food Program works to combat hunger. The program also brings healthy foods to the table for adults in day care and children in child care homes, centers, and in afterschool feeding programs across the country.

Nationally, child and adult day care providers and centers participating in CACFP provide meals to 4.5 million children and adults each day.

To learn more about New Jersey’s Child and Adult Care Food Program, visit http://bit.ly/1FwqWwB or call 609-984-1250.

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