In the year 2008, in a joint effort with the All for Children foundation (Fundación Todo x los Chicos), the Energy Bar Program was implemented in Greater Buenos Aires, in the provinces of Salta and Mendoza and in the city of Bahía Blanca.
This Program is now being implemented in low-income schools (mostly, in primary schools, but also in some high schools and in schools for children with special needs). The aim of this program is to provide contention and social promotion in a manner such that ‘through workshops to make legume and cereal bars the program would provide both a nutritional supplement for kids’ diets and a space for the attainment of skills and knowledge for every-day life thereby contributing to the personal and educational development of boys, girls and teenagers’.

The students taking part in these workshops then distribute the bars they made in their schools: 70% of the bars are distributed amongst all the students attending the different schools and the remaining 30% is distributed amongst the same students taking part in the workshops to be shared amongst their relatives and friends.
A total number of 2,314 students took part in the cereal bar workshops throughout 2008 in the various regions of the Argentine provinces. The workshops were carried out under the supervision of teachers specially appointed for such purpose in the various schools and then coordinated by a Zone Supervisor in each region.
As regards the Greater Buenos Aires area, which is served by the company EDENOR, there were 2,885 students taking part in the Program. In contrast to the manner of organization in the Argentine Provinces, in Greater Buenos Aires the workshops were carried out by interns from various universities who were in turn coordinated by Supervisors and Zone Assistants.
In the Province of Salta, the workshops were conducted in the schools of Salta’s General Güemes department. There, a total of 13 schools and 1,011 students were actively involved in the preparation of cereal bars and in the use of an alternative space within the school system. Therefore, the products made in the workshops were distributed to a total of 33,628 indirect beneficiaries thanks to the solidarity-based distribution undertaken by the schoolchildren: they also donated cereal bars to other community institutions.
In the year 2008 the schools from Salta benefited from the presence of the Mobile Educational Planetary, an educational show organized by the Todo x los Chicos (All for Children) foundation, and which was offered to 4,702 children through 58 performances.
Besides, the cereal bar workshops were implemented in different departments in the Province of Mendoza: San Rafael, Las Heras, Luján de Cuyo and Godoy Cruz. These departments had 1,020 students from 23 participating schools making cereal bars for the school community. Indirect beneficiaries in Mendoza were 18,444 and as it had also been the case in other provinces, the program reached out to the community at large through donations of the cereal bars made by the children to other institutions which in turn generated interaction with and commitment to, other institutions. Besides, in the Province of Mendoza, the integration of parents was more intense as they participated in some workshop activities.
The Energy Bar Program was also implemented in Bahía Blanca, Province of Buenos Aires: in this case, there were 283 students from 15 schools attending the workshops and making cereal bars which throughout the year reached 3,193 indirect beneficiaries as a result of the recreational and solidarity-based activities performed by the students.
In the year 2009, it was the Greater Buenos Aires area which also benefited from the Energy Bar Program, as there were workshops conducted in 49 schools in the area served by EDENOR. Therefore, 23 schools in the West of Greater Buenos Aires and 26 schools in the North of Greater Buenos Aires hosted the Energy Bar Program that applied the workshop modality before this modality was implemented in the Provinces. This meant that in the year 2009 Learning and Services Projects and Educational and Recreational Activities were carried out as well. Additionally, the Greater Buenos Aires area hosted educational shows for children: the Mobile Educational Planetary (which visited all schools) and the Educational Farm, which visited schools for children with special needs.
The workshop has contributes to the improvement of aspects inherent in school life: it opens up a space for cooperation, respect and transmission of values and it also serves to emphasize the commitment of teachers, the active and motivated attendance by students as well as a sense of belonging to the school community.
For the year 2009 the Energy Par Program is scheduled to be run in the following schools: 30 in Salta, 40 in Mendoza, 30 in Bahía Blanca, 50 in the City of Buenos Aires and in the Greater Buenos Aires area. And also for 2009 the Program is set to be launched in the Province of Neuquén, where it will be conducted in 20 schools.