It’s the mealtime mantra that Brian Kiehl, who directs child nutrition services for Monongalia County Schools, voices every year at this time.
“Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation,” he’ll say.
Even in relatively prosperous Mon, there’s still a sizeable serving of children who are suffering from food insecurity — which is an actual, documented measurement.
To be food insecure means you aren’t able to sustain yourself, nutritionally.
It means you’re literally, and clinically, not getting enough to eat.
Of the more than 11,000 students currently enrolled in schools across Mon, 20% of them — or 2,240 — experience food insecurity on a regular basis, according to Feeding America and other watchdog groups.
In other words, if you go to bed with a growling belly on Tuesday night, you’ll wake up with a growling belly Wednesday morning.
And hunger pangs could intensify in the summer, Kiehl said, for those students solely relying on breakfast and lunch in the school cafeteria.
Meanwhile, the district is announcing its sponsorship of the federally funded Summer Food Service Program for 2024.
Breakfast and lunch is open to all children and teens, ages 18 years and under, and will be served at the following schools in Morgantown and the county:
Brookhaven Elementary, 1215 Baker Street.
Cheat Lake Elementary, 154 Crosby Road.
Clay-Battelle Middle-High, 6226 Mason Dixon Highway, Blacksville.
Eastwood Elementary, 677 201st Memorial Highway.
Mason-Dixon Elementary, 7041 Mason Dixon Highway, Blacksville.
Morgantown High, 109 Wilson Avenue.
Mountaineer Middle, 991 Price Street.
Mountainview Elementary, 661 Green Bag Road.
Mylan Park Elementary, 901 Mylan Park Lane, Morgantown.
North Elementary, 825 Chestnut Ridge Road.
Ridgedale Elementary, 1550 Goshen Road.
Skyview Elementary, 668 River Road.
South Middle, 500 East Parkway Drive.
Suncrest Elementary, 3647 Collins Ferry Road.
Suncrest Middle, 360 Baldwin Street.
University High, 131 Bakers Ridge Road.
Westwood Middle, 670 River Road.
July is the month meals will be served on the following dates: July 1-3; July 8-11; July 11-18; and July 22-25.
The times are 9-9:30 a.m., for breakfast — with lunch served from 11-11:30 a.m.
For more information about the Summer Food Service Program, call Kiehl at 304-291-9210.
Other particulars from the USDA
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should complete Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form.
The form can be obtained online at:
https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf.
Forms may also be obtained from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA.
The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number — and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation.
The completed form or letter must be submitted to USDA by: program.intake@usda.gov.
The mailing address is:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
Letters may also be faxed to 833-256-1665 or 202-690-7442.
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