What keeps a community alive?
As an employee of Taos Municipal Schools, I know firsthand what the nutrition program provides to the community of Taos and what it takes to keep it running.
The cafeteria workers are up before dawn preparing and packaging hundreds of meals every weekday at each school. Bus drivers and school staff arrive to load heavy boxes and coolers on to the bus and by 8:30 a.m., we’re off.
We travel the bumpy, dusty back roads around the enchanted village we all call home. The bus drivers know most of the kids by name, how many are in each household and where they live, having served at least one, if not two generations of the same family.
The honk and holler “Come get your lunch!” brings out sleepy, smiling faces. They come out on bikes or running barefoot in their pajamas, some on ATVs or even on homemade go-carts. They pull wagons. They carry puppies, iPads or both in their arms. Dog, cats and chickens circling in the dirt behind them. They emerge from underneath trees just starting to show their autumn glory and between coyote fences covered with brilliant scarlet vines. They jump over cactus and dodge sagebrush. It is a scene not from Norman Rockwell, but from Rudolfo Anaya.
Are all students coming out every day to get their food? Unfortunately, no. Are they eating all the food in the bag? Probably not. But that banana looks pretty good at 4:30 in the afternoon and the applesauce is a sweet treat before bedtime that night. That turkey sandwich or bean burrito fuels their mind and body. The friendly, familiar face handing them the meal feeds their soul. That brief encounter of, “Buenos dias, how’s it goin’? Do you you need anything?” may be the most positive moment of the day. It also gives the school staff members a chance to see our kids and how they’re doing. Who can put a price tag on that?
This program shows what the best of Taos has to offer our own. It gives us hope that we will survive these uncertain times. It allows us to all work together for the sake of our future. It shows our students that we believe in them and that they are worth our time, our efforts and yes, our money.