$36! That is a lot in my opinion. Even if you are in an expensive city I am SHOCKED it would be more than a $20 chip in. Is there usually a lot of food left over? My sister lives in NYC, an expensive city, she is vegan, and I think she would be annoyed by the $36 price tag and the food too.
What if you contribute $10 and say you want to give something, but that you can’t usually eat the food.
The people who did not contribute last year, did they also not come to the lunch?
A lot of people who keep kosher will eat vegetarian non-kosher when not at home, so the vegetarian thing might satisfy a lot of people actually. Although, in LA there probably is a lot of kosher food available, so they might not be used to bending on that. Some keep kosher at home, but out they won’t will eat meats that are not kosher, but won’t eat pork, shellfish, and won’t mix dairy and meat. So, if you ordered in sandwiches that were any type of pork, or sandwiches that had any meat and cheese, or shrimp cocktail, or lasagna, etc., etc, they couldn’t eat.
I think they shouldn’t do a lunch like this, but since they do, then I think they need a different person ordering the food. That’s my big take away from everything the OP has said. It is impossible to please everyone, and the person ordering the food has a stressful position being responsible for it, but she needs some guidance. She might be the one who came up with the whole idea though, so she did it to herself.
Maybe a potluck would be better? That’s what we do here. Then you know you like at least one of the dishes. People don’t have to cook, they can buy something ready made. You have to control it though or you can wind up with 6 chips and dip, and 6 desserts.
How many bosses are there?