Category: Fund Raising

I just got back from volunteering at the Scholastic Book Fair our school is having this week.  This is another fundraising activity at out school and one that I whole heartedly approve of.  Anyone who knows me knows the passion I have for books, and children's books in particular.

The fair is set up in the gym throughout the week.  Each class takes turns coming down to browse and purchase books.   A letter was sent home last week in the orange folder, alerting parents to the upcoming fair and included an order form.  Some parents chose to fill in the form with specific books that they wanted their kids to purchase and sent a check or cash along for the total.  Others, myself included, put some money in an envelope and sent it in the folder.  When their child went to the fair he/she chose the books they wanted to purchase, within their budget.  As a volunteer, I helped the teachers/kids locate and select age appropriate titles to purchase.  The best part for me was getting the chance to share some of the books that Lee and I enjoy reading with the teachers and students.  I was pleased to see a few books illustrated by Kadir Nelson and titles such as The House In The Night by Susan Marie Swanson and The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.

The teachers did a good job explaining to the kids how much money they had for their purchase, the cost of each book they selected and how much money remained for an additional selection or change.  A good practical lesson in money and spending.

It was really great to see how excited the kids were by the books and reading.  Nice job, parents!

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween.  This year's Halloween was the best yet since Lee was born.  The day started with a party at his school followed by our neighbourhood community association parade and festivities, then topped off with trick-or-treating.

The school party was the first parent association organized fund raiser for the year.  There were 3 separate events throughout the day - Halloween party for grades pre-k-2, party for grades 3-5 and a dance for grades 6-8.  I don't know how the other parties went but the pre-k party was tons of fun.  A big hit was a crawl through tunnel we fashioned out of cardboard boxes.  The kids loved it!  There was copious amounts of food for both adults and children and plenty of activities to keep the young ones entertained.

After the party at school we joined the festivities put on by our neighbourhood community association.  This year was the first halloween parade and festival.  The night was topped off with trick-or-treating and an exhausted boy by 6 pm.  I had to carry him the last couple of blocks because he just ran out of steam.

This year we are going to donate the bulk of our candy to the Halloween Candy Buy Back program.  Participating dentists buy your candy for $1/pound (or other treats) then send it to the troops overseas.  Just enter your zip code at the site to find participating dentists in your area.  Beats eating it all myself 🙂

How was your Halloween?

Time has just been flying by.  I've survived our school's first fundraising drive for the year and, I'm not proud to say, my sales were abysmal.  When your child enrolls in preschool, whether it's public or private, get ready for the onslaught of fundraising events.  Our school requires a $300 fundraising contribution each year per family.  There are 2 types of fundraising events, the ones that are school sponsored and ones that are sponsored by the parents association.  The $300 limit applies to fundraising for school sponsored events only.  This year, school sponsored events are for Innisbrook and World's Finest Chocolates (gosh, I remember selling those when I went to school).  This first event was for Innisbrook.  I sold products to a whopping 3 people, not even close to my $300 target.  I'm at a disadvantage because I'm currently not working and my family and close friends are in Canada.  The company does not ship there.  Darn!  That limited my pool of potential purchasers to the few moms that I socialize with.  I have to admit that I'm not the world's best salesperson and it really showed.  There are any number of reasons I can find to explain away the results, but the fact is that better organization and a lack of procrastination could've resulted in a much better haul this time out.  It's a lesson learned for next time.  I WILL reach that $300 target,  it just might mean firing up my own chequebook :).