Fundraising and our Fun Fair

This weekend I was helping out with my daughter's soccer team as they try to raise funds for a big soccer trip coming up.  I didn't do much, but it took a good chunk of my weekend just the same, and in the end it was a very successful fundraiser.  While I was doing it, I began to think of all of the fundraising tasks that our school undertakes over the course of a school year and in particular how monumental a task our upcoming Fun Fair is.

This weekend I had one task, organizing a 50/50 draw and the volunteers that go along with it.  It took a lot of time, with lots of emails back and forth.  Our Fun Fair is exponentially more intricate and time consuming.  The success of the event is due to Trish and Michelle and their tremendous organizational skills, but it also requires the commitment and involvement of countless others.  I think I heard it said the other day that there are 100, half hour volunteers slots to fill on the night of the event.  This does not include the pre-planning and organization that goes on for months ahead of time.  I hope that we have a tremendous turn out this Friday (April 29th), not only in support of our school and PAC, but also as an acknowledgement of the hard work our volunteers have done on behalf of our students.

The Fun Fair is the largest fundraising event of the year, but it is not the only one.  PAC has several events over the course of the year as do individual classes and groups of students (e.g. our SPCA club).  While these events are not directly related to curriculum in classrooms, they do provide an awful lot of additional bonuses to the school in the form of field trips, equipment, etc.  The events organized and staffed by students also provide crucial lessons in money management, cost-profit understanding, organization, and advertising (writing in context), to name only a few.

So, while it may sometimes seem a burden to volunteer some time at these fundraising events, the value is well worth it.  I hope to see a huge show of David Cameron support for our Fun Fair on April 29th.  See you there.