Ben and Lucy’s school held a fundraiser today and I am officially a fan.
Those of you with kids in school know that Back-To-School season [buying backpacks and lunch boxes and checking underwear for holes] is closely followed by Fundraising Season. Since the start of school 9 weeks ago, my kids’ school has already hosted two major fundraising campaigns, a gift wrap sale and a magazine sale. The proceeds from these sales go to things like paying for field trips and teachers’ supplies.
In the past, Oakdale Christian School has also hosted an annual auction. I helped set up for it last year and made a mental note to never get strong-armed into helping plan it. It looked like a nightmare. The appeals for donations went on for months, and the mere orchestration of every detail of the evening looked labyrinthine. I imagine that the woman in charge of it could have applied for a position in the United States Army and been granted officer status on that credit alone.
Perhaps all the other women helping that night felt as I did and, with the resourcefulness that beleagured mothers can summon, decided to can it. And so the Foot Frolic Frenzy was born and, as I said, I approve! Why have parents do all the work when you can make your kids run around the school for half an hour? Ben and Lucy each collected 5 pledges from easy marks [thank you Grampa and Grama, Farmor, lovely aunts and uncles] and, in one half hour, earned more than one of the largest bids at last year’s auction. Other benefits include gym teacher having the day off today, increased physical fitness for children, and anticipated early bedtime for all.
Seriously, these kids didn’t lick it off the grass, as Natasha likes to say. The strong and savvy mothers [and the occasional father — what can I say? we live in Grand Rapids, Michigan] who plan and execute these events have bred a bunch of tenacious little boogers who attacked that Foot Frolic with, well, a Frenzy. I wanted to tell a few of them to slow down, take it easy, maybe walk a lap. But we need the money.
4 Comments
Hilarious! What fun. Brilliant fund raising and fun raising! The pictures alone are worth the price of admission!
Fund raising is a bane. When Lizz was in choir at St. Cecilia, Fred joked that she was the patron saint of fund raising! We finally gave extra money so we wouldn’t have to make and sell ghastly sub sandwiches, etc. Ugh!
Somebody had a brilliant idea here, tapping into the energy and enthusiasm of the kids, who now can feel that the funds raised are the result of their own efforts. Feelings of community and camaraderie abound at Oakdale, I’ll bet. Who said there’s nothing new under the sun?
Sara, thanks so much for posting this! How great to see pictures of this (we heard all about it Friday night). I’m glad to hear this was instead of the auction — indeed, get the kids to do the work, they’re the ones with tons of energy! I love that the route was stocked with cheerers, just like for a real marathon.
Hi Sara!! So happy to see your website!! I’ll add it to englishrules for checking in.
Fundraising – I am the class rep for Isaac’s class this year. Goal: 100% participation. That’s just the “annual fund”. It pays for gym, art, music, and tech lab. Mind you, THIS IS PUBLIC SCHOOL! Deplorable situation here in CA. Our school does all the other fundraisers you mention but I only participate in the walk/run fundraiser. I’d rather have my kids hit up their relatives for sponsoring them in a raise than for candy or gift wrap. Shoshana was very, very proud of the money she personally raised for the school last year. btw, I never understood the allure of fundraiser events and don’t think theyre very cost or time effective.
Pamela
Post a Comment