SHIRLEY LIN

Supplied photo Beacon Hill vice-principal Angela Woods with student volunteers at the Spaghetti Supper. More than $32,000 was raised during the past two months at various fundraisers.

The spaghetti supper event on Thursday marked the end to a series of fundraisers held to assist a family, Angela and husband Jamie Woods, in their medical plight.

Help came in the form of $32,000 — the total raised at the three fundraisers.

Vice-principal Chris Organ said Thursday night was a fantastic turnout of about 350-400 people.

He said their only goal was hoping to do well.

“In terms of what monetary value would actually gain, we had no idea. We’ve exceeded our expectations if we had any.”

The fundraisers began May 26 with a fine arts extravaganza where the Fort McMurrray Fire Department also helped out with barbecuing hot dogs and hamburgers.

A silent auction followed which included artwork by students who donated them for the cause.

The fundraisers then ended with a sphaghetti night Thursday.

The money raised will be given to Angela, who is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, and her husband Jamie who underwent an unexpected major surgery after a tumor was found in his stomach.

Angela’s kidney failed just shortly after she married her husband this past summer. Jamie was planning to give one of his kidneys so she could live a normal life, but in an unexpected twist, doctors discovered a stomach tumour while being tested for a potential donor.

Their plights added a huge strain to their finances with extensive medical and travel expenses.

Organ said when the school and community found out Angela needed the transplant, the bigger shock was when her husband got ill.

“She was always optimistic, but when her husband got sick, that was the big kicker because that really puts them in a rut.

“The reaction in the school first was of sadness; and then it was a matter of, what can we do to fix it? How can we help?

That’s when the idea came up to do a fundraiser following similar events that saw great success at Good Shepherd School and in Timberlea.

“We wanted to do something that just brings you in, have a good time … but at the same time head to a good cause.”

The fundraising ideas came from Parent Council who wanted to do a series of smaller events.

“So we said why don’t we just do it all at once? Have one big shebang, I guess. We did and it worked really well,” Organ said.

shirley.lin@fortmcmurraytoday.com

Trying to come up with a fundraiser this summer? Look no further, we have the perfect fundraiser for you! The CalPak Snack fundraiser is a delicious and healthy alternative to the traditional cookie dough or candy fundraisers that everyone does. Raise money and help people stay healthy this summer with our fantastic CalPak fundraiser!

How to sell this fundraiser:
1.       Get permission from the track, field, or stadium that your team plays at to sell delicious concession snacks
2.       Order the Calpak fundraiser from us.
3.       Receive your order in 3 – 9 business days.
4.       Set up a table(s) at the entrance on the big day and have two or more people to man each station.
5.       To sell even more, take the portable carrier packs to the stands during game time and sell them to those hungry people who can’t take their eyes off the game!
6.       Sell each snack item for $1.00 and make up to 45% profit on each case!

More information: Fundraising Snacks

Exactly how can these two conflicting views be reconciled? As usual, balance is the key. Letting kids have free access to sweets will lead to disaster. However, we don’t need to be parents to realize that the more we try to keep kids from something, the more they will want to try it out.

For those fundraisers who need to use chocolates and other confectionaries in their initiatives, but who want to help teachers and parents protect children from health problems such as obesity and tooth decay, here are some useful tips:

• Emphasize the fact that your fundraising efforts, including through the sale of sweets, will benefit the whole community. Demonstrate that yours is a sensible and responsible organization working for the neighborhood.
• Respect the wishes of families to not participate in your organization’s fundraising event. Inform them that instead of purchasing sweets, they can show their support by donating a small amount of money.
• Work with teachers and parents to promote the values of nutritional education and lifestyle programs. Use your fundraising event as an opportunity to educate kids about “sometimes” foods and moderate consumption of sweets.
• Ensure that part of the money raised is used to support an activity-based initiative, such as a fun run or walkathon. Dynamically advocate for this activity in your community as you sell the sweets.

In short, there is nothing more important than our children’s well-being. While trying to raise funds, we should also endeavor to balance between consumption of sweets and pursuit of active and healthy lifestyles.

The best type of fund raiser would be a party. Everyone loves a party. It is a way to unwind and have fun with friends. So for this, the organizers should choose a theme. After deciding on one theme, they should decide on a certain group of people they would want at that party as these people would want to be with other people whom they have something in common with. An example would be a party just for employees of a certain company. Another example would be a party just for bloggers. Only certified bloggers would be allowed to participate. This would ensure that the people would more or less know each other hence bringing together more people as it targets a certain audience.

The next thing would be to get a location for this party. It could be at an open air venue or a big function room. It would depend on the number of people the organizers are expecting to attend. After which they must find sponsors to be able to pay for the location and other expenses that might occur while planning this event. The sponsors will also pay for the costs of the sound systems and lighting systems as it is important that a party have a good lighting and music. Also check if you will be able to get disc jockeys or DJs to mix music for your party because that would add pizzazz to the whole event. If not ensure that you would have a good sound system that would produce good sounding music for the people.

As it is a party, it should be decided as to whether food and drinks will be free. If food and drinks will be free, it will definitely bring people flocking in. Freebies and raffles are also highly recommended to entice people to come. An example would be a free case of Coke for those who bring two more friends along. This would urge people to bring their friends along. It could also be done that free flowing drinks will be given instead of food and drinks. But do check out the age range of the crowd that you would want attending your party. If you do have a party with free flowing drinks, it might be advisable that this party be for people of a certain age only. You can also opt to have a limited amount of food and drinks to be able to cater to both needs of the group. Just make sure you take into consideration the type of group you would want at your fundraiser.

The costs of the tickets should just be at a minimum level in order to make people want to go. If it were too pricey, they will opt to not go instead of spending such a big amount. This sort of event could be advertised through flyers. It is highly advisable to get volunteers to go around selling tickets to different people. Also send out mass electronic mails (emails) to friends to urge them to attend and bring other friends.

A good and innovative fundraiser is a food sale. But this is not just any food sale but rather an international food sale. One can advertise this to be an educational and worthwhile experience. While one is learning about different cultures, one is also helping a certain cause.

For this sort of fundraiser, the organizers would need to decide on a venue. A school with an open field would be good. One reason would be because students do need to eat and the food sale would be something new for them. Rather than eating at the cafeteria, they can be tasting something new.

The second thing the organizers need to decide on a time and the duration of the food sale. A good duration would be five days. This will give the organizers time to raise enough money and give them a chance to rotate the menu as to ensure that people will keep coming back for more educational and gastronomical experiences.

Organizers should also decide on the type of food that would be served. One day could be all South east Asian food. They can sell sinigang from the Philippines, satay from Malaysia and curry form Singapore. Another day could be devoted to Asian cuisine. This would include food from other parts of Asia. Another day would be solely about Mediterranean cuisine. They could serve kebabs among others. The fourth day could be the rich Western food. They can serve Italian, French and Spanish food. The last day could be a mixture of the bestsellers from the past four days. The organizers should also find out and get an estimate of the possible population they would get in order for them to choose how many types of foods to sell. They should also have desserts apart from the usual savory dishes.

For sponsors, they could talk to different restaurant owners and culinary schools because this is more along their line of business. These sponsors could advertise themselves and have booths along with the food sellers so the buyers would have an idea. In turn these sponsors could also help the organizers by advertising the food sale in their establishments or schools.

In promoting this fundraiser, it is important to stress out that this food sale does not only give back something to a cause but it also allows the participant and buyers to have a peek of different cultures. Make it sound like an enjoyable learning experience so that people would go and check out what it is all about. Just make sure that the prices are reasonable enough to make sure that people would indeed buy the food being sold there.

One of the traditional fund raisers is to conduct a bake sale. During bake sales, people would come together with their baked goodies and sell them off to people for a certain cause. For this sort of fundraiser, one would need about a month to organize this event. One would need to find a location that is accessible to many people. If it is to be held at a public park or open space, the organizers would need to talk to people in charge of those areas to discuss possible charges and how they can go about.

There should be different people who would be assigned to make certain baked goodies that would cater to the market that they are selling to. It would be a good choice to make sure that the consumer would have different choices. It would not be advisable that three women be asked to bake apple pies. So discuss in advance what the types of baked goodies would be made to ensure that everything will be finished and nothing will go to waste. Create a budget for the bakers to follow so that you would be able to minimize the cost and make maximum use of the profit which would just go straight to the cause.

Get sponsors for this bake sale. Find companies and individuals that are willing to support your cause. These sponsors would shoulder any possible cost that might come about while preparing this bake sale. The sponsor and the organizer should come up with a scheme as how they would be able to repay the sponsor for shouldering the costs. An example would be by placing tarpaulins up around the area advertising the company or individual who sponsored the bake sale. Call up companies which are known to sponsor causes so that you will have an easier time convincing them about your cause.

Make sure that the bake sale is advertised. Make flyers and pass it around to people who might be interested. If you are holding it in a residential area, pass it around to all the houses to ensure that you will get some people to come over. If you are holding it in a public area, pass the word to people whom you would see around the area. It would also be good to hold this bake sale in a school because one could be sure of a crowd due to the number of students. But always put up tarpaulins or give away flyers to give the people in that area an idea that a bake sale will be taking place.

It would be good to have a bake sale during a weekend to make sure that everyone will be rather free to attend and check out the goodies. Also have a day end sale to ensure that all the baked goodies will be disposed of. About two hours before the bake sale ends, cut everything by 20 to 50 percent to ensure that people will buy these.

SB12 Fundraiser

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years (Source: U.S. Department of Health). For years, children have been school fundraising with chocolate, cheesecake, frozen pizzas … and more chocolate. Even with the alarming statistics on childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, parent-teacher organizations and coaches had few alternatives to the constant “obesity fundraising.” That is, until FastTrack Fundraising came along.

FastTrack Fundraising, an online provider of fundraising ideas and solutions, offers a variety of alternatives to selling fat-laden chocolate and cheesecake. Among them are the recently launched “CalPak Healthy Snacks Fundraiser,” which contains popular treats such as Chex Mix and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish. Each snack contains less than 30% fat, less than 35% sugar, less than 10% saturated fat, and less than 250 calories. One master case contains 66 treats and raises $264. The CalPak fundraiser is guaranteed to meet all SB12 laws and nutrition regulations, so fundraising leaders can ease their policy worries.

“Now school groups are free to choose from a wide array of fundraising options. With the California SB12 regulation in effect, and many other states following suit, groups need fundraising alternatives more than ever,” says Harold Y. Tan, CEO of FastTrack Fundraising. “We’re glad to work with huge brand names to provide a healthy selection of fundraising ideas to the fundraising leaders.”

School fundraising is critical to funding education in schools nationwide, and has traditionally been dominated by the same fundraising products year after year. Almost every parent has experienced their child coming home with several candy bars or brochures featuring high-priced cheesecake. Now kids and parents can finally take a break from selling obesity and choose a fundraiser that won’t result in unnecessary health concerns.

For those of you in charge of a not for profit organization, whatever it may be, you probably know that much of the funding you receive could be through fundraising events. Fundraising has been the method by countless firms have successfully raised funds to keep them working towards their goal or simply upholding their mission statement. Especially if you are in a situation where your organization is needing further funding to keep afloat then definitely consider this avenue. One great way to raise funds is by selling candy and below are a few tips about how you can do this.

-Ask your family and friends about what candy they like to eat. This is a great way to figure out what is most popular in your circle of contacts and by choosing the most popular candy, this will mean a higher sales gross and ultimately more funds raised.

-Do some research and see if you can obtain the candy at a wholesale rate. If you buy the candy at retail prices, the chances are low that you can resell it for a profit. Most goods can be found wholesale with a bit of poking around and this way you can not only get a large batch of the candy in one transaction but also for a price that enables you to resell the candy reasonably priced and make a profit in the process.

-Be creative about how you sell the candy. Not only ask friends and family members to buy from you but also tell them to spread the word and also set up shop in front of a local business or other densely populated area in your neighborhood where heavy foot traffic will mean a high sales volume.

-Advertise your event. Post flyers on utility poles, in local store bulletin boards and pass out flyers to people walking around your area. Also come up with a press release that a television, newspaper or news website reporter can inform the public about. This way you can reach thousands of people who will be eager to support your worthwhile cause. Be prepared to buy lots of candy wholesale if this occurs!

-Always remember to thank your customers and donors. This is extremely flattering and you also want it to be sincere as you are thankful that they support your cause. The more comfortable you make them feel, the better chances you have of them coming back to buy candy, them telling their family and friends and ultimately creating an even better situation for you all thanks to your outspoken gratitude.

As you probably realize by now, fundraising is no simple task and can take lots of brainstorming and mental or physical work to have it come intro fruition. By picking the right item to sell at a fundraising event and tackling the situation with creativity and energy, you will have a better chance of meeting the goal you either would like to meet or need to in order to keep operating. By following the above tips you are sure to benefit in your own fundraising event.

Do you have a cause for which you need to raise funds? While some solicit donations, have auctions, or sell goods to raise funds, one excellent and popular way to do this is to sell chocolate. There are companies who sell chocolate specifically prepared for these kinds of sales. Sometimes you can even have special wrappers printed up advertising your cause which will remind the customer or donor of the good deed they’ve done by donating. If you think about it, selling chocolate is perhaps one of the easiest ways of raising money and for obvious reasons. Without further adieu, here are some steps for fundraising with chocolate:

1. Seek out a company that sells chocolate for fundraising. Try searching online or asking around, especially people who work in schools or other not for profit institutions should have experience with fundraising and possibly selling chocolate.

2. Figure out what amount of time is needed to raise a set amount of funds. Order a logical amount, say 500 chocolate bars to sell in one month for example.

3. First, ask your family and friends to buy chocolate from you, this is almost always a source for quick and easy sales.

4. Research if it is legal to sell items such as chocolate for fundraising in public places in your location. Being fined for breaking any such law will only hurt your fundraising.

5. Research and look for good public locations with lots of foot or stopped car traffic in which you can sell large amounts of the chocolate. There is always power in numbers!

6. Also check with local store owners to see if they will let you sell in front of their shops because these are high traffic areas.

7. Always tell customers or donors that you highly appreciate their support and to tell their family and friends about your cause. This could mean more sales!

8. After your family and friends have finished their first chocolate bars, ask them to buy more!

9. Keep careful track of how much money you are raising and in what timeframe.

10. Providing you have sold most or all of the chocolate within the time frame of when you need to raise funds, consider your efforts successful and your customers happy not only for donating to your cause, but also for having bought enjoyable chocolate!

By all means conceivable, the beautiful thing about chocolate is that it is a popular treat and people buy it all the time. If they know they can buy chocolate while supporting a worthwhile cause, this not only diverts them from purchasing store bought chocolate but may also make them feel more generous and wind up buying more chocolate from you than they normally would. Also, chocolate is quickly eaten and this is a perfect scenario for you to sell to repeat customers, often more than twice in some cases. If you follow the above steps and plan carefully, successful fundraising by selling chocolate is almost always attainable. There are rarely any reasons not to employ this method of fundraising.