ABOVE: Building Blocks student Lucas Rivera eats a sandwich for lunch. Building Blocks is entering a USDA program called CACFP, so they can be reimbursed for food costs.

FAIRMONT – Building Blocks Learning Center and Childcare in Fairmont has been accepted into the federal nutrition program Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

Director Shea Ripley said it had been something on their radar since they became a part of Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center, which happened in the last few months.

“Previously, we were for-profit, so we weren’t able to be a part of it because we didn’t have enough low-income families (as a for-profit),” she said. “Now that we’re under Lakeview, we’re nonprofit, so we automatically qualify for the food program. That pushed us in the direction of becoming a participant.”

To be a part of the program, they need to meet USDA nutritional requirements, which Ripley said they were already doing as per state requirements.

“We have always served what’s required, which is the three components for every meal,” she said. “Milk, a vegetable or fruit and then a grain is for breakfast. At lunch, we do milk, meat, vegetable, fruit and a grain. Snack is milk, meat, fruit or vegetable and a grain.”

Their food program goes through the Provider’s Choice program, a sponsor that helps facilitate the program.

“They come at least monthly to check in and make sure we’re doing everything correctly as far as serving, serving sizes and serving the meal patterns,” Ripley said. “That’s been helpful to have them as a resource.”

The food is still made by Lakeview, but now food costs will be reimbursed monthly to Building Blocks. There will be no changes to the costs paid by families.

“Now that we’re on the food program, they can serve higher quality food because we have the funds to reimburse us for that,” Ripley said. “It’ll be about $2,000 a month that will get reimbursed for the food. That’ll help greatly. The reimbursement rates are per meal. We get reimbursed at a higher rate for the low-income families. It helps us to keep everybody on the same in the same category of meals and everything.”

It is also required that the reimbursed funds go directly back into the food provided. With this additional funding, Ripley said they will now be able to provide higher-quality food to students and look into potentially sourcing from local vendors.

“We previously would only use canned fruit and vegetables,” she said. “That’s going to be a huge addition, being able to have those fresh fruits and vegetables for the kids, that’ll definitely be higher quality.”

From a professional perspective, Ripley said this re-investment has obvious benefits for their kids.

“It’s really important to have healthy meals for the kids for their development, and so they have better days,” she said. “When they have full tummies, especially healthy food, the day just goes better for everybody, and getting reimbursed for that is helping us to provide higher quality food, which is important for the kids.”

When it comes to feeding kids, they’re not always interested in nutrition. Ripley said this program will help with that, too.

“That’s definitely the balance we have to find between what kids will eat and what’s nutritious,” she said. “As we know with kids, it’s not always easy to find things that they enjoy eating that are also healthy. The food program gives us that opportunity to really put in the money toward finding food that kids will like and also be nutritious at the same time.”

While they flesh that out, Ripley said it will also come in handy with their new school-age summer program, which starts this summer for students from kindergarten to age 9. With this added onto the standard daycare services they provide, the extra funds will help address the increased demand.

For more information on Building Blocks, visit lakeviewmethodist.org/living-options-services/building-blocks-learning-center-and-child-care/