Healthy Snacks Keep Kids Going

A bright-eyed 6-year-old, Randy didn’t hesitate when asked what would happen if he didn’t have his midafternoon snack at the after-school enrichment program at Monroe Elementary School in Monrovia.

“I’d die!” he yelped before bolting into line, along with four dozen or more other kids in the school’s multipurpose room. Boys, girls -- kindergartners through fifth-graders -- all were getting armloads of goodies: cookies, orange wedges and cartons of chocolate milk.

Actually, said Sandra Roanhorse, the school’s site coordinator, Randy and his energetic chums would be hard to handle without a nutritional boost during a busy afternoon of physical fitness, homework assistance and nutritional education.

“We might talk about Johnny Appleseed when we give them apples,” Roanhorse said with a smile, as Randy and his buddy Ivan flashed bright, orange-wedge grins.

The Monrovia Village Centers, as the city school district calls the after-school programs, are established at four elementary and two middle schools in neighborhoods of modest homes where more than half the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. More than 450 students of all income levels are enrolled.

“The fresh fruit is a big part of well-rounded nutrition,” said Loretta Whitson, director of student support services for the Monrovia school district.

Whitson said the school district launched the afternoon program when a 1998 citywide Youth Summit yielded a plea from young people for more after-school activities. State Education Department grants were secured and the Village Centers were underway in the 1999-2000 school year.

But it quickly became clear that the budget didn’t provide enough food, she said. So the district appealed to Foothill Unity Center, a Monrovia nonprofit organization that, among its many services, provides sustenance to thousands of needy families.

The organization’s executive director, Joan E. Whitenack, said Foothill Unity Center operates with an annual budget of less than $500,000, about 80% of it from private and corporate donations. The group received a $15,000 grant from last year’s Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign.

This has been a year of sharply increased demand, she said: “I’m having a hard time keeping up with the need for food.”

Betty McWilliams, Foothill Unity Center’s assistant director, has a bulletin board covered with notes of gratitude.

“Dear Unity Center: Thank you for the nice snacks that you give to us,” reads a card decorated with hearts and ribbons. It is signed, “Ashley.”

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