Parents and Community gardeners have begun reaping the fruit of their labors, harvesting crops grown as part of the School Gardens component of the USDA funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education/ALIGN program. The harvest will bolster the nutrition of children in the 92 target schools and their the environs.

Even though a political crisis has disrupted many government services, parent engagement in the proper nutrition and education of their children has been undiminished and their participation and buy-in of the program has been heightened in the vacuum created by the crisis.

All 92 Communities have remained engaged, continuing to receive take-home rations for their home-bound children, work the gardens, and check out books as part of the Mobile Reading initiative, devised to provide continuity for the children in a disrupted learning environment.