Free school lunch WWYD?

[Tanaqui]

You're entitled to this lunch as a resident of the district with school-aged children. You're not taking from some other child, and you DO need it, that much is obvious.

[Bootsie]

Yes, take the free meals.  The requirement is not that your children are attending the schools just that you live in the area.  You are not being dishonest or taking something from someone else.  In a time for crisis (either personal or community-based such as COVID), it is perfectly fine to accept assistance.  There are a number of reasons, beyond financial, why a family would benefit from this type of meal assistance right now.  Some parents may accept this because the parents are working long, tiring hours in the medical profession.  Others might accept it to ease shopping concerns.  Some may accept it because they are caring for loved ones with COVID.  Others may accept it because they currently have COVID or COVID-related side effects.  You would benefit; your children would benefit; that is what the assistance is intended to do.  

[busymama7]

I agree you should take it.  In our area, they have been begging people to pick up the food because it was going to waste and they would lose funding if they aren't serving enough kids.  

[DawnM]

If our district were doing this, I would take advantage of it.   Ours is offering free lunch if you are in the building, and if you want free lunch during virtual days, you have to drive to go get it and all of the schools are at least 20 miles away from us.

Just do it.

[DawnM]

Oh, and I can't even tell you how much food is wasted right now because people aren't taking advantage of the free food.  I work in a school, our kids are hybrid, but I am there 4 days per week.   I see it.

[2squared]

The free lunch is offered to all kids as part of a pandemic government program. It’s the same program that was first put in place over the summer. 

The program is currently providing free lunches to every kid eating school lunch. I have three kids in parochial K-8 school and one public high schooler who eat free lunch every day. Income is not a consideration. 

Last summer our little parochial school principal called and asked my family to participate in the program. The more participants they had, the more funding they received. They needed a baseline amount of participants to receive enough funding for staff and supplies, so they could service the families who truly needed the meals. We didn’t want to participate, but we did to help out. This time, the schools didn’t even ask  since the kids were already in the building, they automatically receive free lunch. If your school district is distance learning, they may be looking for participants  

[J-rap]

Take them, and don't even think twice about it.  There's a reason they said "regardless of income."  This season is hard on everybody, for different reasons.  (And I see you signed up!  Great!)

[katilac]

Accept the lunches. You don't even have to worry about donating somewhere else at this time if you don't have the bandwidth for that, or feel more secure saving the money - you'll pay it forward at some point.