Meal train sign up sheet: pick a day, a dish and drop-off

A neighbour is home with a new baby. Six people text the organiser, three pick Tuesday, and nobody knows who is cooking what. I would rather share one link and let each helper say day, dish and allergens.

Who it is for

Church groups, neighbours, school parents and workplaces who want to help a family through a hard or happy week.

What each question is for

Day and dish: the organiser sees the plan and avoids repeats.
Allergens ticked: the family can check before they eat, without a phone call.
How many it feeds: a family of five and a couple need different amounts.
Drop-off method: a door knock or a cooler, whichever the family prefers.
Disposable containers: so nothing has to be returned later.

What a helper's AI would ask

"Which day can you cook?" Then "What are you making?" Then "Does it contain nuts, dairy or gluten?" It shows the answers and sends only after a yes. Read about agent-fillable forms.

Before you use it

There is no calendar, and a chosen date is not locked. Check the CSV each evening and tell a second person who picked the same day. Put the family's allergies and preferred times in the form description. Set close_at to the last day of the train.

Find more in forms for churches and forms for nonprofits. A potluck sign-up suits a shared meal at church, and a volunteer application finds the organisers.

Questions

Can two people pick the same day?

Yes, the form does not block it. Read the CSV, find repeated dates and ask one helper to move. Some families welcome two meals in a day, so check first.

How do I share the schedule with helpers?

Download the responses as CSV, sort by the date column and paste the list into a message or a shared sheet. The form gives you JSON or CSV, so the sharing step is yours.

Should I put the family's address in the form?

Send the address to helpers in your own message. The form stays open to anyone with the link, so keep private details out of the public description.

Or paste the JSON

Give this to your AI. It needs the AI Form API MCP server or an API key. It makes the form and sends you the link.

text

Create this form with the AI Form API create_form tool (or POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms with my API key). Then reply with the public_url.

{
  "title": "Bring a meal",
  "description": "Thank you for helping. Pick a day, tell us what you will cook, and we will pass the plan on to the family.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "helper_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 120
    },
    {
      "id": "helper_phone",
      "label": "Phone, in case plans change",
      "type": "phone",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "helper_email",
      "label": "Email",
      "type": "email"
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_date",
      "label": "Which day will you bring a meal?",
      "type": "date",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_plan",
      "label": "What are you bringing?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 200
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_contains",
      "label": "Does the meal contain any of these?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Nuts",
        "Dairy",
        "Eggs",
        "Gluten",
        "Shellfish",
        "Meat",
        "None of these"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "people_fed",
      "label": "How many people does it feed?",
      "type": "number",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 12
    },
    {
      "id": "hand_over",
      "label": "How will you get it to them?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "I will drop it at the door",
        "I will leave it in a cooler",
        "Someone will collect it from me",
        "Tell me what suits them"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "disposable_dish",
      "label": "I will use disposable containers so nothing needs returning",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "note_to_family",
      "label": "A kind note for the family",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 600
    }
  ]
}

Or call the API

bash

curl -X POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFORMAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"Bring a meal","description":"Thank you for helping. Pick a day, tell us what you will cook, and we will pass the plan on to the family.","fields":[{"id":"helper_name","label":"Your name","type":"short_text","required":true,"max_length":120},{"id":"helper_phone","label":"Phone, in case plans change","type":"phone","required":true},{"id":"helper_email","label":"Email","type":"email"},{"id":"meal_date","label":"Which day will you bring a meal?","type":"date","required":true},{"id":"meal_plan","label":"What are you bringing?","type":"short_text","required":true,"max_length":200},{"id":"meal_contains","label":"Does the meal contain any of these?","type":"multi_choice","options":["Nuts","Dairy","Eggs","Gluten","Shellfish","Meat","None of these"]},{"id":"people_fed","label":"How many people does it feed?","type":"number","min":1,"max":12},{"id":"hand_over","label":"How will you get it to them?","type":"single_choice","options":["I will drop it at the door","I will leave it in a cooler","Someone will collect it from me","Tell me what suits them"]},{"id":"disposable_dish","label":"I will use disposable containers so nothing needs returning","type":"checkbox"},{"id":"note_to_family","label":"A kind note for the family","type":"long_text","max_length":600}]}'

JSON definition

json

{
  "title": "Bring a meal",
  "description": "Thank you for helping. Pick a day, tell us what you will cook, and we will pass the plan on to the family.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "helper_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 120
    },
    {
      "id": "helper_phone",
      "label": "Phone, in case plans change",
      "type": "phone",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "helper_email",
      "label": "Email",
      "type": "email"
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_date",
      "label": "Which day will you bring a meal?",
      "type": "date",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_plan",
      "label": "What are you bringing?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 200
    },
    {
      "id": "meal_contains",
      "label": "Does the meal contain any of these?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Nuts",
        "Dairy",
        "Eggs",
        "Gluten",
        "Shellfish",
        "Meat",
        "None of these"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "people_fed",
      "label": "How many people does it feed?",
      "type": "number",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 12
    },
    {
      "id": "hand_over",
      "label": "How will you get it to them?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "I will drop it at the door",
        "I will leave it in a cooler",
        "Someone will collect it from me",
        "Tell me what suits them"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "disposable_dish",
      "label": "I will use disposable containers so nothing needs returning",
      "type": "checkbox"
    },
    {
      "id": "note_to_family",
      "label": "A kind note for the family",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 600
    }
  ]
}

A meal train sign up sheet that tells everyone who brings what