ReCharge! Your Grant

If you're interested in applying for grants for ReCharge! Energizing After-School (i.e., General Mills, PEP), here's some language that will be helpful.

ReCharge! Energizing After School™ is a collaboration between Action for Healthy Kids and the National Football League to get kids in grades 2-6 out of their seats and learning lessons about healthy eating, physical activity, teamwork and goal-setting. ReCharge! has successfully energized after-school programs, physical education and health curricula, recess, summer/day camp activities and in-home daycare.

ReCharge! helps students learn about and practice good nutrition and physical activity habits through fun, team-based strategies. It focuses on four core concepts:

1."Energy In" (nutrition)
2."Energy Out" (physical activity)
3. Teamwork
4. Goal-setting

Why ReCharge! is needed

Childhood overweight and obesity, and related health problems, have risen dramatically since the early 1980s. Yet many children are undernourished and are not consuming the vital nutrients they need for health and learning. This epidemic is compromising the long-term health and achievement of many students. ReCharge! educates students — and gets them up and moving — while they learn to make healthy choices about their own nutrition and physical activity habits. The core concepts students learn and practice in ReCharge! also make it a valuable resource to help schools address and meet school wellness policy and practices, as required by the federal government.

How ReCharge! was developed

ReCharge! was developed by the National Football League and Action for Healthy Kids, two organizations committed to the health and wellness of the nation's children, working with after-school and content experts guided by a panel representing more than 25 leading education, health, nutrition, fitness and after-school organizations, and government agencies. The program addresses national standards for health education, physical activity and parent involvement; best-practice criteria for school-based nutrition and physical activity programs; and the 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program also benefits from NFL Youth Football expertise in development of the physical activities. Before being released to the public, ReCharge! underwent a rigorous review process and was piloted in after-school programs in 16 school districts around the country.

What's unique about ReCharge!

ReCharge! is designed to be practical, feasible and adaptable to a variety of settings and after-school programs. Each ReCharge! kit includes an instructor's notebook with background and 15 hands-on lesson plans (and 11 additional lessons available online), equipment to implement the lessons, poster, healthy snack guide, and newsletters for families (available in English and Spanish). Ancillary materials, including Wilson® NFL Youth Footballs and the ReCharge! section of the Action for Healthy Kids Web site (www.ActionForHealthyKids.org/ReCharge), provide additional excitement and interest. Students build a personalized Playbook, track their own healthy choices with an "Energy In–Energy Out" Tracker and can celebrate their successes at a culminating ReCharge! Field Day. The ReCharge! Home Field Advantage family outreach component extends the lessons to those at home, encouraging a family approach to healthy nutrition and physical activity choices.

ReCharge! also helps after-school programs serve and fund healthy snacks. Children's growing bodies and curious minds need nutritious food between lunch and dinner to get through the afternoon and to thrive. ReCharge! provides after-school staff and school   nutrition departments with background information on serving and funding healthy snacks, including USDA snack funding program information, sample menu ideas and healthy snack recipes.