Our Story

Sometimes the smallest actions can lead to monumental changes. How a simple act of helping a restaurant deliver lunches turned into an unexpected journey of entrepreneurship and lessons learned.

It all started in 2006 during an incredibly challenging time. After being a stay-at-home mom for 15 years and having recently finished chemo and radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I found myself in the middle of a divorce and in need of a way to earn an income.

At the time, the principal at my daughter’s grammar school was bringing in student lunches every day using local restaurants. I knew the owner of one of the restaurants and asked if I could help with the school lunch deliveries. It was a small job, but it provided relief and income, which I desperately needed.

The program at the grammar school was managed by the principal, who collected orders manually from parents, placed orders with restaurants, coordinated delivery, and paid all the restaurants each week. It was a lot to manage! Seeing her struggle, I offered to help with the program, becoming one source for coordination, delivery, and payment. I realized I had a knack for organization and enjoyed ensuring everything went smoothly. Eventually, I brought more local restaurants on board and began helping more schools in the area.

After a few years of bringing schools and restaurants together and handling the deliveries, a local park district camp approached me about bringing a lunch program and delivery service to their families. The challenge was finding a way to accept orders online, deliver to multiple camp locations, handle all customer service, and manage the entire program. In 2008 a restaurant-based school lunch service did not exist, so we got to work building it for the park district.

The summer lunch program was a tremendous success and we saw an opportunity to fill a gap and create something truly special and unique: the first restaurant-based school and camp lunch management company. We named our company Kiddos because it reflects what it's always been about for us, the kids.

It's been a truly remarkable adventure and we have accomplished so much, but it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. As the first to blaze the trail, we’ve faced plenty of obstacles and setbacks. I've lost count of how many times our strategies have failed, or a great idea didn't pan out, but I can confidently say we have gained so many valuable insights and discovered innovative solutions and processes along the way.

From the beginning, the key to our success has been making sure our customers walk away from every interaction with us feeling good. We pour all our energy into that goal. We also keep listening carefully to our customers, schools, and restaurant partners to strike a delicate balance to meet everyone's needs. It's an ongoing process and we're committed to constantly improving and delivering the best experience possible.

Today, we're proud to have created a unique school lunch program that delivers thousands of school lunches every day to schools everywhere. Our success is due to the hard work of many, from the early days of delivering for just one restaurant to the present where we partner with a network of trusted restaurant partners.

And we're not done yet. We're constantly looking for ways to improve and innovate.

Through this journey, we've realized even the smallest tasks can lead to unexpected opportunities. And even when you can’t see the path in front of you, there is always a way forward.

If you’re in search of a lunch program that prioritizes exceptional service and cares about meeting the unique needs of your school, we'd love to hear from you!

Join us in our mission to transform school lunch and get more kids to eat their lunch at school.

Kiddos is the Original Restaurant Based Fresh And Wholesome School Lunch Company
A School & Camp Lunch Company in Illinois providing all your school lunch catering, delivery and food service needs.