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Tips for Increasing Free and Reduced Lunch

Tips for Increasing Free and Reduced Lunch Applications


The number of Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Applications that your school receives can qualify you for several programs including Title I Funding and Child Nutrition Programs, both of which are great assets to your school and your students.  Getting students to return the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Applications can be a bit tricky, so we have come up with a few tips on how to increase the number of applications turned in.  We welcome any other success stories or ideas that you have!

  • Encourage teachers to offer incentives like stickers for returned applications.
  • Utilize face-to-face time with parents and families at Back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences to explain the application and encourage families to return it.
  • Include a cover letter addressed to parents with the blank Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Application sent home with students.  The dinner.gifletter can address some of these points:

    -Families can help their schools by returning their applications, even if they choose not to participate in the school lunch program.  It is the number of students who qualify for the program, not the number of students enrolled in the program, that counts towards program qualifications.

    -Free and reduced-priced meal applications impact the school's eligibility for other types of school funding.   Returning the applications makes it easier for schools and comveggies.gifmunities to get the resources they need.

    -Studies have shown that students who eat from the National School Lunch Program are more likely to eat more vegetables, drink more milk and fewer sweetened drinks, and eat fewer cookies and salty snacks than students who make other lunch choices. (www.actionforhealthykids.org)

    -Federal funds are available for free and reduced-price school meals, so school districts will not lose money by providing these meals.
Collecting this information is important for two reasons: it qualifies children to receive the meals, and the data that is collected by October is used to determine which schools qualify for additional funding and programs.  Schools are only eligible to participate if the October data shows that at least 50% of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches.

When your school meets the mark at 50% of students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunches by October, you can take advantage of the After-School Meal and Snack Program and the Summer Food Program.  These are excellent ways to provide nutritious snacks and meals to children participating in after-school, weekend, and summer programs. Just think how much better they will be able to learn, play, and grow with these extra sources of nutrition!
 
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