How to set up school lunch program?

[Ruthla]

My school's PTA recently started a school lunch program, 4 days a week (we have half days on Fridays.) We qualify for the free school lunch program through the gov't (info about it is on my Food Stamp approval notice.) This is a brand new private school- the school just opened last year and there was no hot lunch program then, except for pizza delivered from a local Kosher pizza place once a week.

How can we go about making the school's lunch program participate with the national School Lunch Program so I (and any others who qualify) can get the free meals?

[talk de jour]

I have no experience with free/reduced lunch, but my first thoughts are:

-Call whoever's in charge of your day school's lunch program and just tell them you qualify for the free lunches through the government, and do they plan on honoring that on their own? It might be as simple as that.

-If there's a number on the notice you received, call them... if not, google your state's food stamp program/lunch program directors and give them a call.

[maya44]

If the PTO's lunch program is a fundraiser, which I suspect it is, you are probably SOL.

In many many PTO's lunch food is brought in as a fundraiser for the PTO. These raise a huge amount of money.

The PTO is generally under NO obligation to make it available to someone on free/reduced funded lunch.

If you have nice people in your PTO they might use an "Angel Fund" to provide the lunch to your child...otherwise....no go.

[alegna]

I THINK that the federal lunch program has a lot of stipulations and such. I think it would not work well to make kosher lunches.

-Angela

[Ruthla]

I already called the PTA member in charge of the school lunch program and she suggested I call the school office on Monday morning. Then yesterday I spoke with a friend/fellow PTA member and she suggested I call up the school district office and find out if they know how to set this up. There wasn't any phone number on my "free school lunch qualification letter".