Hey, I thought the reason so many lunches are going into the bin was due to the lunch period being too short!!

My kids say they don't have enough time to finish. They often end up eating what was left over on the drive home.

I dread packing lunches myself, because I drive myself mad trying to be healthy on a very tight budget.

"There is so much fraud and waste in the programs that are run by the federal government, so I just wanted to ask if anyone filled out that form and got approved even if they were not eligible. "

And so you using a program you are not eligible for but just hoping it sneaks through the cracks is just the same. You KNOW you are not eligible and hope they mess up by not reviewing your form enough to catch that. How you do not understand this is wrong is beyond me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get him luncheables - Aren't they like $1 each? Include a water bottle and you are good to go. Cheaper than $3, just as disgusting as the school lunch, but your kid will probably eat it. Let him buy lunch a couple times a month. Or better yet - if he eats his lunch every day - he can buy lunches on friday.

Lunchables are not a dollar. They are just about the same as school lunch and way more disgusting.

They are $1.59 at Walmart. Have you eaten a school lunch lately? Not just looked at the menu but actually seen a real, live school lunch. Because if you have (in MCPS system) you wouldn't have made this statement.

No, I wouldn't pay for the school lunch, so I haven't ate it, but I had free lunch as a child, so I know it's gross. My child is in fcps. I have been in the cafeteria at lunch time. I volunteered as a helper and I also came in to eat lunch with my child a few times. I brought subway, or something else from home when I went in.

I didn't know they were that cheap at walmart. I don't shop there very often. But still, Lunchables are really nasty. They don't include fresh fruit or vegetables, which the school lunch does at least do that.

Point is, I still dread packing the lunches, shopping for the lunches, and the waste. Do you guys know that in some school districts they have free lunch for all students? No forms required , it's just free for the students. (I know it's funded by taxpayers).

Title 1 schools give the form to everyone and want every family to return a form. Either you fill it out completely and get denied/approved, or you just fill out the bare minimum (name), check that you do not qualify and turn that in. Filling it out and getting denied isn't bad. It's how the school gets funds. They want confirmation that everyone was contacted and reviewed.

I work in a school. I help many families fill out the form. They truly need the free lunch. You, OP, would not get approved. Also, although people are discreet about those who need it, I do not know how they would handle someone like you applying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"So is everyone that doesn't want to pack or pay for lunch lazy and cheap? Or just the ones who admit they don't want to pack or pay?"

I am also lazy and I am cheap. These are not issues when they only impact you and your family. But you are talking about being also a cheat. The program is for those that meet the income limit. Everyone else in the country pays for those lunches - even if they too are lazy and cheap - so that poor kids do not go hungry. For you to use this program when you do not qualify is wrong and undermines support for the program since people see how it can be abused. Is us not wrong for those who qualify to use it.

Show me where I said I'd lie on the form to get qualified. I said I'd considered filling it out (honestly. Look at my OP. I said I'd be honest on the form), and see if they'd give it to me. I'm simply curious if it would happen since I know there is lots of waste and fraud in these programs.

Even if they did give it to you, why would you take it, knowing that you don't really qualify? If you are really angry at the government waste, why don't you try to stop it, rather than take advantage of it?

Maybe the best thing to do would be to fill it out, and if you get approved, take it to the front office and ask why you were approved when you clearly don't qualify. Maybe that will make the school office (or whoever it is that approves the forms) tighten the reigns better.

I wouldn't be opposed to doing this.

I'm the OP, forgot to say.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"So is everyone that doesn't want to pack or pay for lunch lazy and cheap? Or just the ones who admit they don't want to pack or pay?"

I am also lazy and I am cheap. These are not issues when they only impact you and your family. But you are talking about being also a cheat. The program is for those that meet the income limit. Everyone else in the country pays for those lunches - even if they too are lazy and cheap - so that poor kids do not go hungry. For you to use this program when you do not qualify is wrong and undermines support for the program since people see how it can be abused. Is us not wrong for those who qualify to use it.

Show me where I said I'd lie on the form to get qualified. I said I'd considered filling it out (honestly. Look at my OP. I said I'd be honest on the form), and see if they'd give it to me. I'm simply curious if it would happen since I know there is lots of waste and fraud in these programs.

Even if they did give it to you, why would you take it, knowing that you don't really qualify? If you are really angry at the government waste, why don't you try to stop it, rather than take advantage of it?

Maybe the best thing to do would be to fill it out, and if you get approved, take it to the front office and ask why you were approved when you clearly don't qualify. Maybe that will make the school office (or whoever it is that approves the forms) tighten the reigns better.

I wouldn't be opposed to doing this.

I hate it too, so I buy the lunches. My kids can either pack their own lunch or order one at school. I'm not stressing, there are bigger worries in life.

To answer your question - no I have never filled out the for for free lunch because we don't qualify.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get him luncheables - Aren't they like $1 each? Include a water bottle and you are good to go. Cheaper than $3, just as disgusting as the school lunch, but your kid will probably eat it. Let him buy lunch a couple times a month. Or better yet - if he eats his lunch every day - he can buy lunches on friday.

Lunchables are not a dollar. They are just about the same as school lunch and way more disgusting.

They are $1.59 at Walmart. Have you eaten a school lunch lately? Not just looked at the menu but actually seen a real, live school lunch. Because if you have (in MCPS system) you wouldn't have made this statement.

Troll or not this is one of the most entertaining threads I've ever read.

I just don't get what OP wants. A handclap for filling out the form? Someone else to say yeah you don't qualify so you probably won't get the free lunches? Advice on what to pack that'd be less stressful? Advice on how to get your kid to eat what you're packing? It's confusing and OP your snarky rebuttals aren't helping. You're amusing us OP.

Troll.

Anonymous wrote:Would you honestly feel OK with accepting something you know you're not qualified for?

Clearly the OP would, which is why she wants to do it. No qualms at all, apparently.

Would you honestly feel OK with accepting something you know you're not qualified for? Even though you didn't do anything dishonest to get it, wouldn't you feel dishonest if you accept something given to you in error? Just because fraud, waste, abuse, or mistakes happen that doesn't mean people should take advantage of that by actively trying to become one more case of such waste or mistakes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you want to do what you're proposing?

Go back to page one and read the original post....

So...it's because you're lazy and cheap?

Yeah, I'm lazy and cheap. What, are you perfect?

And by the way, what a double fucking standard. If I came on here and said I was eligible for the free lunch, what would you call me? What standard would you hold me to then? So is everyone that doesn't want to pack or pay for lunch lazy and cheap? Or just the ones who admit they don't want to pack or pay?

People who can afford to buy either a school lunch or the ingredients to make a lunch but still apply to get lunch for free, possibly taking money away from a truly needy family, seem cheap. People who do this knowing they're not eligible but hope to get the free lunch anyway due to how much they dislike the work involved seem both cheap and lazy.

People who cannot afford lunches for their children, who are eligible for the free lunches and choose to apply for them, don't strike me as cheap for applying for this assistance.

How is this a double standard? There's a clear difference.