It's finally here: The bright, brilliant, record-breaking 20th Lights On Afterschool!

The lights will be on for afterschool programs today as students, parents, educators, business and faith leaders, policy makers, community members and others come to schools, parks, campuses, state capitols, city halls, museums, malls, and other venues to show their support for afterschool programs. Our historic 20th Lights On Afterschool will involve more than a million people at a record-smashing 10,000 events!

Events and celebrations this year include roundtable discussions with mayors and police chiefs, and events focused on conservation and the environment, growing and cooking healthy food, space exploration, child safety, technology arts, public policy, literacy, community service, pumpkin carving, painting and smashing, and more. From the Empire State Building in New York to the Orlando Eye in Florida to the State Capitol in Pennsylvania, to the Superdome in New Orleans, to the Spirit of Detroit in Michigan, to City Halls in Houston, Hampton and San Francisco, landmarks across the country are being lit in yellow and blue this evening to support afterschool programs. Clear Channel Outdoor is running afterschool billboards across the nation all month, and donating some of its most prominent space to illuminate Lights On Afterschool, including digital billboards in New York City’s Times Square and the lights of Boston’s South Station. Tonight, the New York City skyline will glow for afterschool, as Jodi Grant and our partners at Nickelodeon—including SpongeBob!—officially kick off Lights On Afterschool with a visit to the Empire State Building.

Just last week, the more than 5,000 sheriffs, police chiefs, and prosecutors of the organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids – a part of the Council for a Strong America – released a report documenting positive outcomes for children and teens who participate in high-quality afterschool programs. “From Risk to Opportunity: Afterschool Programs Keep Kids Safe” shows that the hours immediately following school remain the prime time for juvenile crime. FBI data from 36 states shows that most suffer spikes in crime from 2 to 6 p.m. (see how your state measures up). The new report describes afterschool programs as one of the best crime prevention strategies, an effective way to guide young people toward success in school and readiness for productive careers. 

And on October 23, the Food Research & Action Center released a report calculating more than 1.3 million children benefited from afterschool suppers at school- and community-based programs on an average weekday in October 2018. That is a 10.4 percent increase from the year before but, still, just one child received an afterschool supper for every 16 low-income children in the National School Lunch Program that month. Our partners at KIND Snacks have made a huge contribution to the snacks that will be enjoyed today, donating more than 250,000 bars to afterschool programs across the country!

The 20th Lights On Afterschool is a fitting milestone year for a milestone movement—so much is happening, and we will be sharing it all with you! Voice your support on social media at #LightsOnAfterschool and send photos of your event to info@afterschoolalliance.org.