I guess the donation of time spent with our kid doesn’t count? 
No one should feel any pressure to participate. Donating is totally optional, but every contribution is appreciated (even a dollar) as the school is trying for 100% participation, so ANY amount helps toward that goal.
This reminds me of the phone call I received from the West Point Association of Graduates during their annual fundraiser during our son’s plebe year. I asked what West Point needed money for that my taxes weren’t covering. The caller started in about the study abroad programs. I said, “Wait. You mean that all-expense paid trip to Afghanistan doesn’t count?” They never called me again.
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My daughter has never had to purchase a meal due to sports. Missed meals due to sports (practice or game) have always been paid for / provided by the school.
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Covid pandemic has made a DoorDash convenient and very attractive option for students from wealthy background. Some students order Starbucks cappuccino delivered every morning.
And your roommate orders DoorDash after practice and your kid texts you saying she is also hungry and wants nice hot meal, there is no other choice other than saying “yes dear” for parents.
If you are to let your kid order DoorDash anyway, “why don’t parents put money together and load catered food on the bus for kids to eat on their ride back to the campus and lose no time to study” is a rationale for bus food for the team.
I don’t want to be negative here. Online food delivery order is a great convenience we discovered after covid. We sometimes do tailgating together over the food we order, and socialize with athletes and other families after Saturday games. It is just we are surprised by the popularity of DoorDash in BS.
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If your child goes to a boarding school in a rural area, Door Dash does not exist, fyi.
A handful (3 or 4) of restaurants do deliver to boarding schools in my area, so dinner/post dinner food can happen, but I’ve not heard of peer pressure in this area with any of my kids.
Also, some boarding schools have frequent/generous “feeds” after study hall. Hotchkiss has a few each week, where they might have pizza, or Mexican food, or homemade cookies and milk.
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My 10th grader is at school in the boonies, where the only delivery option is 1 pizza place. She and a group of friends have pizza parties sometimes, where they alternate who buys the pizzas. Averaged over how many weeks the rotation is, it’s not much, but I have to say that we WERE a bit surprised the first time we got a $150 charge for pizza.
At her school, most sports are included in tuition, but riding costs extra. Which makes sense. We also pay extra for private music lessons.
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I’m not saying there aren’t school-provided alternatives if you opt in. The issue is getting the kids (looking at you boys) to participate when there are much tastier and more expensive options so readily available.
For our son, it was often late when he trudged back from the bus/erg room to his dorm, dining hall closed, and food trucks parked right on the steps of Mem House where his friends were gathered. No way he’d miss out on that.
I have one at a school in the boonies (so no going out / delivery etc!) Yeah for us!
and one at a school IN a town with various food options (and the town is considered in bounds so they can pop by the bagel shop bw classes for a snack or coffee) - so every week i get a request for “can i go out to brunch/dinner with my friends for sushi etc”? so her spending is far more than other BS kid
Biggest unplanned expenses for us: travel and storage! Travel — including the transport to get to the airport. It’s 1.5 hours away and 225$ for the 3 kids, each way, before I even consider flight costs. Also needing to arrive at a certain time traveling from west coast means no choices in flights so some very expensive ones. High costs make travel for long weekends not worth it (luckily dorms are open and plenty of activity on campus in long weekends at MB).
Storage — let’s just say dorm movers is making a killing off our family alone. Wow! We end up throwing away SO much stuff because storage is a fortune!!! (Another expense: replacing crap every year like mattress toppers etc.) ugh!
Sports — here is where I make my money back though — totally covered by Mercersburg, including food on the road, hotels for tournaments, etc. So I am saving thousands of dollars per kid compared to what I used to pay when they did sports at home! Also — very little food-delivery culture. There is a local McD so my kids can walk there sometimes on go bananas and it still costs me 5 bucks. We put a small allowance on each kid’s debit card each month and they manage accordingly.
Another random expense: toiletries needing quick delivery.
Also: parent visits, which include flights, car rental, hotel, and for us: dog boarding. (Tip: time your dog acquisitions to align better with empty nesting days…)
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I find it cheaper most times to fly from Boston to Europe or Hawaii than to California. My family always loses out when it is time for me to plan vacations because of this even with the cheapest flights and flexible days 
. I feel that for ya!
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Our school brings in food trucks as entertainment and kids don’t pay anything.
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The school picks up the tab for dinner out if the kids will miss the dining hall. Usually it’s just pizza or some other fast food place.
My kid doesn’t ever Door Dash at school, yet he Dashes while home with friends when I am perfectly willing to go pick up the food and most of them have cars. Drives me nuts! It’s become a way of life for teens.
i have def needed to stagger travel dates / airports / airlines - flying east coast to west coast;
and i refuse to pay extra $300 for unaccompanied minor charge for my 14 yr old (so we limited this year’s flights home for xmas and spring to Southwest and Alaska) - fortunately this issues goes away for future years
TRUTH on the extra minor charges!! and it’s not just the airline fees – you have to pay extra for a faculty member to park and go into the airport and wait for the flight to take off. And, then do the same for receiving them when they come back!
One of my daughters was 13 when she started her freshman year so it was pretty limiting. Luckily, the girls have turned 15 this year, so many more options!
The good thing for us at MB is that we have 3 airports in the DC area to choose from so at least we can check for cheaper fares that way.
I have eight (!) teenagers staying with me right now for spring break. And I have so much food in my house it’s insane. (I cook for a living, so it’s up my alley.). Anyway…last night some of them ordered door dash at 11 pm to get…frozen cokes from McDonalds. They were craving Frozen cokes. It’s none of my business what they spend their money on, but that feels like a huge money suck to me. (but then again, I’m not a teenager. )
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They have a chef but want junk. Come on mom 
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We have extended dining hours, so that rarely happens. If a coach knows that they’ll still get back too late anyways, then they’ll either a.) pack meals from the dining hall (this is a service that the dining staff does) or b.) give all the players a stipend (paid by the school) to buy themselves a meal at one of the Main Street restaurants.
People love DoorDashing food for themselves, but that’s never the only way you can get a meal. And pretty much no matter what problem you have, you can ask your HoH, and they’ll figure something out for you. In my old House, for example, on the last evening after finals (when there’s only four or five international students left on campus and the dining halls are closed), I know that the HoH would take everyone to a restaurant.