A Holiday Fantasy, PTO-Style – Spring 2003
Spring Blooms with Fundraising Opportunities – Spring 2003
Fundraising Efforts Strike a Patriotic Chord – Spring 2002
| A Holiday Fantasy, PTO-Style | Spring 2003 |
By Sharron Kahn Luttrell
Reprinted with permission, all rights reserved, PTO Today, Inc.
Then I was a kid, my uncle owned a hamburger stand. It wasn't much – just a counter and a handful of seats carved into the corner of a shopping mall. When my cousins and I visited, we'd march into the serving area and pump ourselves mountains of soft-serve ice cream. We'd mix Coke with root beer, with Fresca. We bustled about, playing cook and customer and waitress until our aunt called us out from behind the counter and back into the real world.
Life as a grownup has never been as fun as my childhood fantasies of what it would be like. But it came pretty close in December when I volunteered to work at the PTO's holiday shop. I slid behind the display table and slipped into the role of sales clerk. I felt like a kid again, playing store. When my shift ended, I came away with a whole new appreciation for the PTO. I had always been grateful for the educational enrichment our organization provides. I didn't realize that it also enriches adults' lives by allowing them to act like kids again.
As a child, I loved pretending to be someone I wasn't (but might possibly one day be). As an adult, I've pretty much settled into who I am and what I do. Those definitions form the boundaries of my life, so when I find myself miraculously out of character, it feels like a vacation from the ordinary. I revel in it.
For two hours at the holiday shop, I reveled in my role of store clerk. I familiarized myself with the inventory and the pricing structure. I stood with hands folded behind my back, smiling expectantly at the kids who lingered at my station. I prayed for someone to ask me a question, and when a child did, I answered in my most helpful sales clerk voice… .
It's not too often that we get to plunge into a new role, play-act for a while then return to our own lives. Parent groups, with their focus so narrowly trained on children, allow us to do this.
Think of all of the different activities your PTO has been involved with: fairs, dances, sundae parties, road races, roller skating nights, auctions. The adult volunteers get to be carnival barkers, race officials, theater ushers, and auctioneers. Even the seemingly tedious chores – like dispensing drinks for 150, serving up hot dogs, even keeping the minutes of the monthly meetings or balancing the books – offer an opportunity to step out of the usual pattern of your days and immerse yourself in new experiences.
Last June, my daughter transformed the neighborhood into a carnival. She and her friends used sidewalk chalk to draw game booths and a food court. They made rides from saplings and tree stumps. They recruited the younger kids as customers. The carnival lasted through July and August, rearranging itself with each rainfall and windstorm. It's gone now, but I expect it will be back in the spring.
I wish it would go on forever. But I know that eventually knowledge and responsibility will grind down my daughter's fantasies of roller coasters and pink cotton candy. She'll learn about maintenance, sales tax and insurance premiums. When that happens the game will be over.
But not completely. Because by the time my kids leave childhood, they will have seen a parade of adults step out of their everyday selves to operate carnival games at the PTO fair, and dish up ice cream at field day. And they've already seen their mother come home from the holiday shop glowing with the fun of playing sales clerk. My kids will grow up knowing that fantasies can always be revisited, even if only for a two-hour shift.
| Spring Blooms with Fundraising Opportunities | Spring 2003 |
Experienced boosters know that product sales are among the most efficient and lucrative methods for raising funds fast. They also know that special events, though often hard work, add more than a few extra dollars to the kitty. The value of a well-executed family night is priceless in terms of bonding the group and larger community. Most successful parent groups have found a way to blend special events AND product sales into their annual fundraising efforts.
Inspired by the fundraising ingenuity of local parent teacher organizations at a recent conference, here are a few springtime ideas that combine bonding opportunity with good old-fashioned product sales. Try one out and let us know how it goes. Your group could be featured here next year.
Charge a family entrance fee, hire a disk jockey, sponsor a Mardi Gras parade through the school, award a prize to the best classroom float. Don't forget to sell those famous beads along with non-alcoholic hurricanes.
Give the school's bake sale a paint job this St. Patrick's Day. Green cupcakes and sugar cookies will taste magically delicious at your next parent open house. Be sure to showcase products from the spring product sale.
Roll out the red carpet. Bring in the wide-screen TV. Serve up the appetizers and stage your very own Oscar Party. Have faculty and parent volunteers come dressed as their favorite celebrity for photo opportunities with students and parents. Raffle off movie-themed baskets donated by local businesses. Don't forget to sell popcorn.
Turn your spring car wash into an outdoor extravaganza with live entertainment featuring the school's jazz ensemble and acappella groups. Keep drivers entertained and refreshed while their cars get a bath. Set up a “lemonade stand” featuring $5 spirit cups bearing your school's logo.
Who's your favorite April Fool? Good-natured faculty members won't mind putting their picture next to a collection jar in the school cafeteria so that students can vote with their change on who deserves this year's honor. Give every student that participates an “I voted” sticker.
Chocolate bunnies. Marshmallow chicks. Tulips. Daffodils. Wake up, it's springtime with Easter baskets to fill and flower beds to plant. TIP: Find a vendor you trust and get those order forms circulating.
Honor Mother's Day AND Memorial Day this year with an All-American Apple Pie Bake-Off. Proud cooks can enter their favorite pie along with the recipe for auction. Have on hand a healthy supply of American flags to sell to families that want to decorate their mailbox and front porch.
| Fundraising Efforts Strike a Patriotic Chord | Spring 2002 |
From Miami, FL, to Seattle, WA - and hundreds of cities, villages and townships in between - local papers this fall chronicled their citizens' fundraising efforts to relieve the families of victims of September 11 and workers at Ground Zero.
Most poignant were the stories about American school children responding to President Bush's call to focus their fundraising efforts on helping the children of Afghanistan.
"This is an opportunity to help others while teaching our own children a valuable lesson about service and character," Bush said in a speech shortly following the attacks. Afterwards, Americans went into action. The U.S. Postal Service established a special zip code for contributions by children. The American Red Cross launched America's Fund for Afghan Children to which six-year-old Justin Washington of Miami, FL, contributed the first dollar.
Fourth graders at St. Philip's Episcopal School raised $1,500 for the Red Cross in a 110-day bake sale. Students at Northwestern Elementary, Middle and High Schools in Kokomo, Indiana sold patriotic tee shirts. Kristin Strickland, 11, raised money by feeding 15 chickens daily, then collecting and selling their eggs for $1.50 per dozen to her neighbors in Philmont, VA. Three students at Horning Middle School sold candles and bracelets during school functions. Students at Crestwood Elementary, Springfield, VA, donated $2,000 from their annual fundraiser. The list goes on and on.
"We like the idea of kids helping kids," said one high school senior.
As of February 22, school children in America and their families had raised $3.7 million. The money has paid for 1,700 winter jackets, 1,500 winter tents, 10,000 gift parcels, blankets, kitchen sets, emergency health supplies and mobile healthcare units throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and neighboring Middle Eastern countries.
For more information on America's Fund for Afghan Children, visit the website: kidsfund.redcross.org.
