Dear Parent Volunteer Organization President:
Congratulations on your selection as President of your building’s parent organization. The volunteerism that you and the members of your association provide for the students and the staff of our school district is greatly appreciated. Public education is dependent upon a close partnership with our community and business members. Our school board has clearly defined that one of their missions is to create more open communication and a closer bond with our parent organizations.
Recently, our school board adopted a Wellness Policy that provides guidelines for the sale of food items during the school day in our buildings, addresses appropriate food items for classroom celebrations, and fundraising activities. The support of our parent organizations in helping to reinforce the message of healthy lifestyles to our students is essential.
School fundraising has been a staple in our schools for decades. Over the past decade, fundraising has become a multi-billion dollar industry that offers hundreds, if not thousands of different products and services available for fundraising purposes, many of which include food products. Many of these products are low in nutritional value and provide an unhealthy environment in our schools, yet these are longstanding, proven fundraisers that raise a lot of critical funds for our schools. Here lies the dilemma. What are schools to do? We believe the answer is to create a balance of non-food related fundraising programs and food fundraising programs that are high in nutritional value. Below please find a partial list of some healthy fundraising activities. We also recommend that you visit www.healthy-fundraising.org for information about fundraising activities.
ALTERNATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEAS
| Auction Balloon bouquets Bath accessories Bike-A-Thons Books and calendars Bowling night Bricks/stone/tile memorials Buttons, pins, and stickers Candles Car wash Carnivals Celebrity basketball game Cookbooks Coupon books Dances Emergency kits for cars Festivals Flea market Flowers | Fruit and vegetable baskets Fruit smoothies and slushies Gift baskets Gift items Gift wrapping Golf tournament Greeting cards Hats Healthy snack items Holiday ornaments House decorations Jewelry Jog-A-Thon Jump Rope-A-Thon Magic Show Megaphones Mugs Newspaper space/ads Plants | Pocket calendars Raffle donations Read-A-Thon Recycling cans/paper/ink cartridges School art drawings School frisbees School spirit gear Singing telegrams Skate night Spelling bee Spirit/seasonal flags Stadium seats Stuffed animals T-shirts and sweatshirts Tupperware Valentine’s Day flowers Walk-A-Thon Yearbook covers |