Current Events > In a moral quandary, guys. Help me out?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So, I work for a catering company. One of the contracts we have is for a company that provides after school service for poor families. They get a government grant to provide food for the kids, which we provide (for about $2 a meal). Three hundred kids a day.

Recently, however, their attendance numbers dropped dramatically, from 300 to 100. They can't order less food from us without getting in trouble for not spending the entire amount of the grant. If they report that they need less money for food, they lose the grant. As a result, 200 lunches a day are getting trashed. That's $400 a day wasted.

On the one hand, this is waste that should probably be reported. On the other, those 100 kids would be out of meal and I would personally probably lose my job (not for whistle blowing, if we lose this contract there's not enough work to keep me employed). What's the right thing to do here?
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The right thing would be for them to find something else to do with that food instead of discarding it. Is there a rule against sending food home with the kids? As the person who makes that food, your only real concern should be meeting the order.
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fire_bolt posted...

On the one hand, this is waste that should probably be reported. On the other, those 100 kids would be out of meal and I would personally probably lose my job (not for whistle blowing, if we lose this contract there's not enough work to keep me employed). What's the right thing to do here?

Keep quiet. Kids get fed, you keep your job.

give the kids double servings, idk
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They probably DO send some of the food home tbh. I know some of it is getting thrown out tho because I see it in the trash when I deliver the next day's food
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Feed kids, rest of the food should go to other people, preferably people who are in need. Make $30 less food to compensate for extra delivery costs if necessary.

Wait until you no longer need the job or have another contract and then report it.
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switch the track so the train only runs over 1 person in stead of 5
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find out what happened to the 200 missing children
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Vaati_Reborn posted...

find out what happened to the 200 missing children

Probably let the contract know that if the attendance/order isn't met that they're gonna lose it. Indirectly if it's gonna get you in trouble. Give them some options on what they can do to keep the total amount of meals used where it should be (take home the food, redistribute it to others who need it, etc).
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_Schwarzlicht_ posted...

Probably let the contract know that if the attendance/order isn't met that they're gonna lose it. Indirectly if it's gonna get you in trouble..

Why would they do that? They lose business going that route.
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talk with the vendor manager. see if you can't provide higher quality food in lower quantities at the same price. or is there a reporting aspect to this? better food might spread word of mouth and get more people coming!

maybe see if you can't give unused food to a local food bank. Maybe deliver part of the food un-cooked/still bagged so the after school program donates the food? seemingly they know the issue that telling the numbers change messes up their grants so they might be willing to talk and come up with a creative solution that makes everyone happy.

then again I wouldn't put any of this into writing in case of audit down the road.
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chill02 posted...

give the kids double servings, idk

this. tell them to take some food home

Seems to me this is all on the client.
300 meals were ordered. It's your job as the contractor to provide those 300 meals, not to care what happens past that.

Try to work out some plausible deniability, if your company has any chance of getting into trouble about it.