{"id":17232,"date":"2024-11-18T19:25:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T19:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/california\/?p=17232"},"modified":"2025-04-30T17:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T17:03:38","slug":"summer-spotlight-series-morongo-usd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/california\/summer-spotlight-series-morongo-usd\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Spotlight Series: How San Bernardino County Schools Nourished Kids in Rural Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u201cWe all chose this field to make a difference in children’s lives. If you can make a difference in a child’s life by utilizing this program, climb that mountain, step by step, and make it happen.\u201d – Janet Barth, director of nutritional services<\/span><\/h2>

Summer is the hungriest time of the year for millions of children who rely on school meals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

According to the latest U.S. Census data, 10 million children live in poverty, with the child poverty rate increasing to 13.7% in 2023 from 5.2% in 2021. This mirrors the<\/span> latest figures from the USDA<\/span><\/a>\u2019s annual report on Household Food Security, which showed a similar uptick in child hunger. Nearly 14 million children, or 1 in 5, face food insecurity.<\/span><\/p>

Thanks to years of advocacy efforts, Congress expanded a summer-long grocery benefit for kids, known as <\/span>SUN Bucks<\/span><\/a> in California. They also approved meal delivery options in rural areas, improving access to summer meals.<\/span><\/p>

This summer, No Kid Hungry collaborated with school districts and community organizations across the U.S. to help close the hunger gap. With your support, we convened over 400 state and federal officials, community leaders and parents to <\/span>share ideas and work together<\/span><\/a> on ways to feed kids this summer. We also provided grants and technical support to schools and community organizations in California, which helped them purchase critical equipment, as well as hire and retain staff to run pick-up and meal delivery programs in rural areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photos provided courtesy by Morongo Unified School District.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The nutritional services team from Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) in San Bernardino County is a shining example of what you\u2019ve helped us achieve.<\/span><\/p>

No Kid Hungry California\u2019s Associate Director Daisy Munguia sat down with MUSD\u2019s Nutritional Services Director Janet Barth to reflect on how this summer program went.<\/span><\/p>

Situated in California\u2019s High Desert region, MUSD covers over 1,400 square miles and serves a diverse student population across several communities, including Morongo Valley, Yucca Mesa, Yucca Valley, Landers, Wonder Valley, Twentynine Palms, and Joshua Tree. This geographically large district is larger than the area of Washington D.C., which is under 100 square miles.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Grades: P-12 | District Enrollment: 7,359<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cFor families to travel the distance into town to go to school, shop for supplies, or handle any other necessities, in 105 to 115 degree weather during the summer \u2014 is a big deal,\u201d shared Barth. \u201cFor students, then to have to sit outside, and endure the heat while eating isn\u2019t ideal. So, the new rules for non-congregate serving, where you can take your meals home\u2014 it\u2019s wonderful for us and for the families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

With MUSD\u2019s rural feeding program, rather than driving into town every day for the kids to eat one meal, families come down into town once a week to pick up five days\u2019 worth of school breakfast and lunches for children. Barth and the nutritional services team used a QR Code system where parents could pre-register and decide between two different boxes every week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Families had the option to pick which summer meal boxes met their needs for the week. One box had bulk items where families could create their meals together. The other box had pre-made and ready-to-eat meals their child could easily take out and eat. Both boxes had a variety of bulk fruits and vegetables that parents could prepare meals with.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cEach box was bountiful, including produce grown locally from the Coachella Valley,\u201d said Barth<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Despite the intense challenge of working in 100-plus-degree heat for two to three hours each day, Barth found the summer meals program to be incredibly rewarding. The gratitude expressed by families made all the effort worthwhile. A particularly touching moment came when a mother at an MUSD Board of Education meeting shared her heartfelt appreciation for Barth\u2019s dedication, recounting her positive experience in the food line. The mother\u2019s initial frustration of waiting for an hour in her car with her children to get meals for her family immediately vanished because of the staff member who greeted her.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cShe\u2019s got the biggest smile on her face,\u201d said the mother. \u201cShe\u2019s literally sweating, and she greets me like I was the first person she saw that day. She asked how she could help me, and how many meals I needed\u2026I just have to tell you, you have the nicest people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Barth added, \u201cI love this part of the summer because not only did we have the benefit of helping our community, helping our kids, but in return we also benefited, too. We were able to give some extra job security to our staff and grow closer together as a team and family.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

After this second year of sponsoring the rural feeding program, the nutritional services team knows exactly what they want to do to make it better and where they want to go to reach more children.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI genuinely admire Janet\u2019s heart and passion for this work, and as they plan for next summer, they aim to shift meal service to Thursday for better logistics and start earlier to beat the heat. Their dedication to improving the program and serving the community is truly commendable.\u201d Munguia shared.<\/span><\/p>

No Kid Hungry will be here to support them every step of the way. We invite you to join No Kid Hungry in helping partners like Morongo Unified School District.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ways You Can Help<\/b><\/h2>

You can ensure kids have the nutrition they need to thrive in and out of the classroom and reach their full potential in a variety of ways:<\/span><\/p>