​

Meals Management

ChurchBuddy’s meals management system helps you organize meals for your events. You can create meal periods, track attendance, and manage menu planning.

​

Overview

Meals management includes:

• Meal Periods - Create meal periods (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
• Attendance Tracking - Track who attended which meals
• Menu Items - Plan menu items for meal periods (optional)
• Export - Export meal attendance data

​

Setting Up Meals

Meals are managed at the event level. To set up meals for an event:

1. Open your event
2. Go to the Meals tab in the event dashboard
3. Start by creating meal periods

​

Meal Periods

Meal periods represent individual meal times during your event (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc.).

​

Creating a Meal Period

1. In the Meals tab, click ”+ Add Meal Period” or go to the Meal Periods section
2. Fill in the meal period details: Basic Information:
   • Name - Meal name (e.g., “Breakfast”, “Lunch”, “Dinner”, “Welcome Dinner”)
   • Date - Date of the meal (ISO date, YYYY-MM-DD format)
   • Start Time - When the meal service begins (ISO time, HH:MM format)
   • End Time - When the meal service ends (ISO time, HH:MM format)
   • Location - Where the meal is served (optional, can be different from event location)
   Capacity & Tracking:
   • Capacity - Maximum number of attendees (optional)
   • Allow Multiple Attendance - Whether the same meal can be attended multiple times on different days (default: false)
   Additional:
   • Kitchen Notes - Private notes for kitchen staff (optional, not visible to registrants)
3. Click “Save” to create the meal period

​

Editing a Meal Period

1. Find the meal period in the Meal Periods list
2. Click the edit icon (pencil) on the meal period card
3. Update the fields you want to change
4. Click “Save” to update

​

Deleting a Meal Period

1. Find the meal period in the Meal Periods list
2. Click the delete icon (trash) on the meal period card
3. Confirm the deletion

​

Tracking Attendance

You can track which registrants attended which meals.

​

Recording Attendance

1. In the Meals tab, go to the Attendance section
2. Find the meal period you want to record attendance for
3. Click “Record Attendance” or “Mark Attendance”
4. Select registrants who attended the meal:
   • You can select by registration_id and registrant_email
   • The system identifies registrants by their email address
5. Set attendance status:
   • Attended - Mark as true if they attended, false if they didn’t
   • Attended At - Timestamp of when they attended (ISO datetime)
   • Attended By - Email of the staff member who marked the attendance
6. Optionally add:
   • Dietary Restrictions - Dietary restrictions or allergies (from registration answers)
   • Special Requests - Special meal requests beyond allergies
7. Click “Save” to record attendance

​

Attendance Details

Each attendance record includes:

• Registration ID - Reference to the event registration
• Registrant Email - Email of the registrant (used to identify them)
• Meal Period ID - Reference to the meal period
• Attended - Whether they actually attended (boolean)
• Attended At - Timestamp of attendance (ISO datetime)
• Attended By - Email of user/staff who marked attendance
• Dietary Restrictions - List of dietary restrictions
• Special Requests - Special meal requests

​

Updating Attendance

1. Find the attendance record in the Attendance list
2. Click the edit icon
3. Update the attendance status or other fields
4. Click “Save” to update

​

Multiple Attendance

If “Allow Multiple Attendance” is enabled for a meal period:

• The same meal can be attended multiple times on different dates
• Each attendance is tracked separately by date
• Useful for meals that repeat daily (e.g., breakfast each day of a multi-day event)

​

Menu Planning (Optional)

You can optionally plan menu items for meal periods.

​

Menu Items

Menu items represent food items that will be served during a meal period.

1. Go to the Meals tab
2. Find a meal period
3. Click “Menu Items” or “Plan Menu”
4. Add menu items:
   • Name - Name of the menu item
   • Description - Description of the item (optional)
   • Dietary Tags - Tags like “vegetarian”, “gluten-free”, “vegan”, “dairy-free”, etc.
5. Save the menu items

Menu items help with:

• Planning what to serve
• Communicating menu to registrants
• Tracking dietary accommodations

​

Exporting Meal Data

You can export meal attendance data for reporting or coordination with kitchen staff.

​

Meals Export

1. Go to the Meals tab
2. Click “Export” or “Export Attendance”
3. Choose export format (CSV, Excel)
4. The export includes:
   • All meal periods
   • All attendance records
   • Registrant information
   • Attendance status and timestamps
   • Dietary restrictions and special requests

​

Best Practices

1. Create meal periods early - Set up all meal periods before the event
2. Use clear names - Name meals descriptively (e.g., “Welcome Dinner - Day 1”, “Breakfast - Day 2”)
3. Set accurate times - Use start and end times to help coordinate service
4. Track capacity - Set capacity limits to help kitchen staff plan
5. Record attendance promptly - Mark attendance during or immediately after meals for accuracy
6. Document dietary restrictions - Track dietary restrictions to ensure accommodations are met
7. Use kitchen notes - Add private notes for kitchen staff about special requirements
8. Enable multiple attendance - For multi-day events with repeated meals, enable multiple attendance
9. Export regularly - Export attendance data for backup and reporting
10. Coordinate with kitchen - Share exported data with kitchen staff for meal planning

​

Troubleshooting

Can’t record attendance:

• Verify the registrant is registered for the event
• Check that the registrant_email matches the registration
• Ensure the meal period exists and is active

Attendance not saving:

• The system updates existing records if attendance is recorded again for the same registrant and meal period
• Check that registration_id and registrant_email are correct
• Verify the meal_period_id exists

Duplicate attendance records:

• The system prevents duplicates by checking registration_id, registrant_email, and meal_period_id
• If you see duplicates, one may have incorrect data

Menu items not showing:

• Menu items are optional and separate from attendance tracking
• Ensure you’re viewing the correct meal period
• Check that menu items have been created for that meal period