I’m not going to be subtle about this at all. I HATE school fundraisers. One of my biggest joys at leaving behind elementary and middle school was not feeling forced into fundraising for the school. We had to sell chocolate bars for $1. My mother wouldn’t allow us to go door-to-door and she wouldn’t take the bars to work because it was our fundraiser, not hers. That did not stop her, however, from eating the candy bars, tossing a $5 bill into the envelope and leaving us to cover the rest of with our allowance.
Inside the brochure
Needless to say, I dread my kid’s school fundraisers even more. The paperwork says: “No door-to-door! Only sell to friends, family and coworkers.” Obviously, the onus of selling these items is put on parents. That really doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve worked at so many places with pushy parents who actually try to cajole, chide or guilt you into buying things for their kid’s fundraisers. “You bought so-and-so chocolate, so why not buy my calendar?” or “I know you make more money than I do, so why not get the gift wrap?” It shouldn’t come as no surprise that I think those people are on top of my Crappiest Coworkers List.
The ouside of the brochure
But I’d take $1 chocolate bars over the stuff my kid’s school is selling. As you can see, it’s all sweets. Now, keep in mind, the school is all about healthy eating. The kids aren’t really allowed to bring cookies or junk food to school. So, it seems at cross purposes that they have to sell this stuff.
Also, I can not come to grips with paying $14 for a frozen cheesecake when I can make one fresh or go to a local bakery and get one, for cheaper. And today. These desserts won’t arrive for another 6 weeks. The thought of trying to talk people into buying this no matter this cause is unconciousnable to me.
Which brings me to last issue with this fundraiser: Fools is broke. Our friends couldn’t afford a $14, my family is way too cheap to even consider and we work at home, so we are our own coworkers. Just who am I supposed to sell this to?
I have no objection to the school raising money, I wish they’d consider a bake sale or considering the low-income status of so many of the children, at least something more affordable. I do object to feeling forced into this situation. I do not like having to tell my daughter she can not participate in this because of the financial limitations. What is even more troublesome that this fundraiser is occurring because last year’s fundraiser not only did the PTA president get a lot of negative feedback from parents, but the company messed up the orders and never returned the money.
I vote next year, they do a car wash or a 5K walk.
The How about a $50 check? by Anika Malone, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Tags: education, fundraising, money, schools