Austin-San Marcos, TX (1888PressRelease)
April 21, 2007 - A new trend is emerging in school fundraising: balancing food and candy sales with activity events. Even though product fundraising is down 11%, according to Vickie Mabry, Associate Director of the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers (AFRDS), schools are still very much benefiting from the proven cookie dough and candy fundraisers of the past.
Rudy Hernandez, editor for the Texas Fundraising Monthly, has noted that the concern of parents regarding the products their children are selling is becoming more of a priority and awareness is up, but the overall concept of selling “sweet” goods is far from dead.
“Many schools across the U.S. have implemented some sort of wellness policy to educate and protect their students from selling minimum nutritional food products for on-campus fundraising events. As we all know, 90% of school fundraisers are participated by students off-campus and therefore there has not been a dramatic decline in any of the sales of confections or baked good products.”
Does this mean that parents, teachers, principals and students should not be mindful of the negative effects of constant consumption of “sweet” goods?
“Absolutely not,” states Hernandez. “The key to successful school fundraising events can be broken up into 3 directives: Safety for the participants, nutrition value of the events, and the financial achievement gained by its’ sellers. It’s hard to ignore the positive economical impact that confections and sweets fundraising have brought to many needing schools around the nation. This is what school fundraising is about; raising money for our children to build a better educational environment for learning. If cookie dough and candy are consistently raising enough money for the schools, then schools will continue to utilize them.”
Many agree.
The twist is that instead of schools only selling food products for their fundraising efforts, parents and teachers must implement some sort of activity-driven event to bring nutritional balance to the school environment and take the time to educate students on the concept of moderation.
“I believe that for every food product fundraiser that a school participates in, they should follow it up with a healthy, exertive fundraising event that relies solely on physical activity and liveliness,” Hernandez adds.
And that’s the key.
Balancing food and candy sales with fun activity events is a necessary focus that everyone involved in fundraising should be aware of. No where is it mandatory or even justified to totally eliminate the sales of product fundraisers from schools. Take the opportunity to educate students that sweet goods and exercise are to be harmonious and that each have a place in the overall aspect of school fundraising.
About the Texas Fundraising Monthly
The Texas Fundraising Monthly is FREE ezine and daily blog dedicated to bringing the the most current and up-to-date information about the exciting fundraising industry straight to the schools and non-profit group organizations of Texas. We are constantly searching for opportunities to excel and set a progressive, pioneering and positive example on the aspects of Texas fundraising.
For more information on school fundraisers and fundraising event ideas, visit: http://texasfundraisingmonthly.blogspot.com/
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