Afterschool Alliance

Afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families and inspire children to learn, but more than 14 million children have no place to go after the school bell rings. The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization supported by a group of public, private, and nonprofit entities working to ensure that all children and youth have access to afterschool programs by the year 2010.

Launched in 1999, the Afterschool Alliance: develops and distributes resources for parents, grandparents, guardians, educators and others that explain how to identify, assess, create and promote quality afterschool programs in their communities; coordinates Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide rally in support of afterschool programs; holds an annual "Afterschool for All Challenge" in Washington, DC to educate policy makers and secure their support for afterschool programs; commissions public opinion research on attitudes toward afterschool programs; promotes investment in afterschool initiatives; coordinates an Afterschool Ambassadors Program to promote awareness of the need for afterschool programs in local communities and with state and federal lawmakers; and increases public awareness through an ongoing national public service campaign.

For more information about the Afterschool Alliance and its projects, visit www.afterschoolalliance.org.