Fundraisers that Won’t Make You Fat

1024px-Several_browniesFundraisers are a part of many schoolchildren’s lives, but a new law that took affect in July puts major restrictions (limitations) on what can be sold.

Fundraisers are efforts to earn money for a specific project or group. In U.S. public schools, many extracurricular activities — such as after-school sports, student clubs, and music programs — aren’t supported by government money, at least not entirely (completely). If students want to buy new uniforms (clothing worn by an entire team, usually for sports), take a field trip (travel somewhere for an educational experience), buy supplies, or have money to support their activities, the students (and their parents) must raise (earn) the money themselves.

Fundraisers come in many shapes and sizes (are varied; there are many types), some of which I wrote about when talking about school music programs. Among the most popular fundraisers are bake sales and candy sales. Bake sales involve students and parents making desserts such as cupcakes (small, round cakes), cookies, and brownies (a small square of heavy chocolate cake; see photo), and selling them at an event where other students, their parents, teachers, and people in the community come to buy them.

Candy sales involve students taking packaged candy that their club or organization purchases in bulk (in large quantities) and selling them at a higher price, with the understanding that the money will go to help the school group. Students sell to other students or go door-to-door (going from one house to the next), but very commonly, parents sell them to their co-workers at work.

In July, the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act went into affect (began to be enforced). This law requires that the federal (national) government set standards (say what is required) for all food and drinks sold during a school day. This includes vending machines (machines in which you put money to buy food or beverages), classroom snacks (food eaten between meals), and daytime fundraisers. The law doesn’t say that all sweets are out (not allowed) in fundraisers, but says that they must meet nutritional standards (what is considered healthy and beneficial for the body). Bake sales are still allowed and each state decides how often they can occur, but they should be “infrequent” (not very often), according to the new law.

Recent news reports say that this new law poses (causes) problems for schools that rely heavily (depend very much) on selling sweets to supports their activities. However, many are moving to selling other items, such as wrapping paper (colorful paper used to wrap (cover) gifts), candles (blocks of wax that can be lit), and other things not related to food.

How are schools funded where you live? Do schoolchildren raise money for some school activities?

– Lucy

Photo Credit: Several Brownies from Wikipedia

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9 Responses to Fundraisers that Won’t Make You Fat

  1. Dan says:

    Hello everyone

    When it comes to this kind of questions involving kids and school, I find myself in trouble answering because I have no kids and just one nephew living far away.

    Take what I am about to write with a grain of salt since I am not sure.
    Now, common sense tells me that I should shut up when I do not know something, but you know,.. I must write down something for the sake of learning and practicing.

    Basically, in Italy there are twoo kind of institutions: Private and Public Schools. I attended the public ones.
    My understanding is that public schools can be founded by the central government, regional or maybe even from the E.U.

    For example, when I attended a three year course of vocational education, that was founded by the region I am living in (Lombardy).
    I had to pay close to nothing.

    For the private schools, those are founded by the students’ parents I guess.

    For the second question, I had to phone to a dude who has a teenage daughter. He told me that that kind of fundraising it is usually done in kindergarten for I do not what.
    It is not common over here. To my memory I do not recall ever doing that.

    See! if I had kids now I could have been able to answering the questions more precisely and write more.

    Thank you Lucy and have a nice day.

  2. Marcos says:

    Hi everyone

    Lucy, I don’t know laws or fundraisers like that here. If there is a new federal laws ( in U.S. ) that say schools must follow strict food guidelines I think that parents and government have to work together for future children healthy.

    Have a nice day

  3. Parviz says:

    Hi every body,
    I am fed up. Even though I am in my late 30s, Lucy still thinks I am a schoolboy.
    She frequently asks me about something that I have done with some twenty years ago.
    I could have had a child, if I didn’t screw my relationship with my girlfriend.
    So your guess is as good as mine.
    —————
    But back then in a school we used to go.
    They had an awful fundraiser called “Parents’ gift”, according to the fact that “their school would have better stuff and supplies” for the laboratories and stuff at school.
    The bad thing about this program was that it was mandatory, despite having a “gift” on it.
    The gift went from $20 to $100, for some affluent families.
    So before sending your Kid to school, first you had to figure how you were going for the “mandatory gift”.
    I remember in one very difficult economic season, I had to renounce the school for some three months, until some benevolent guy accepted to fill in my “gift”.
    _________________
    So Dear Lucy,
    If there is anything you want to know about “My luminous past” please let me know.

    Thanks a lot,
    Parviz

  4. Peter says:

    There are a lot of foundraising strategies out there,but seems like soliciting candies by kids from door to door is the most popular one. U know , it is sth that people can relat to easily. Grownups typically associate kids with candies and sweets. So, they are more prone to buy candies from kids when they see a kid with a box of candies at their door doing some cute pitch to get them buy.
    Here , they still do the candy thing
    And sometimes high school kids do the car thing
    The wash cars or simonize them for a few bucks. They put all they earn in a tilt. Then they use it for some cause or sth

  5. Parviz says:

    Hey Peter,
    What is up with you.
    It seems you have decided to put away your aggressive style, getting it down to 6 short lines.
    It is very uncharacteristic of you, a little bit strange.
    I have always thought of you as this animated guy, putting a lot of critique on each and everyone’s post.
    So what has changed in you.
    Did you just get off work, or did you just get off bed. It seems you haven’t got a chance to finish your post.
    I know from my experience both of these make me unwilling to comment.
    Feel happy bro.
    Parviz

  6. Parviz says:

    Hi emiliano,
    Come out come out, wherever you are.
    Your grandson wants to see you.
    Come on man, write something please.
    I want to see your post, whenever I sign in.
    Tell how were schools funded, when you were in high school.
    Did you ever sell candy or go door to door make some money for your activities.
    Tell us about Cuca’s school time, how did she make money?
    It’s fine though if you just write down a word.
    It’s bed when I have no word of you for a while.
    I hope you are as happy and cheerful as lovely Swallows.
    Parviz

  7. emiliano says:

    Parviz, you make me smile dear friend reading your request so having it in mind I am going to write
    remembering my school days.

    No, I didn´t do something similar as to be a fundraiser being at the school, because this way of acting
    wasn´t allowed in Spain when Cuca and me were young.
    People had nothing to share or to give after Spain´s civil war or after the second Europen´s war
    we had even less.
    It was another world where people were hungry all day and they had not good humor to give anything
    to the children or the schools.
    Scarcely we had enough to survive and all parents efforts were to carry some food to their houses.
    With less than fourteen the boys and girls were working in Madrid, but with less age, eight or ten years
    old, children were working in the little villages or the countryside when there was any work to do.

    It is a long, long story that now I am writing in Spanish in my own blog, just my memories being a
    child, also the memories of my parents.
    That´s the reason I write less now in this ESL blog, thinking in Spanish to write my stories in desembuches
    blog it is my way of not thinking about real life.
    This summer has been hard, very hard to Cuca and emiliano, because my dear love has been worst and
    needs my help every day, every moment.
    Being at her side I have been writing our love story (now in Spanish, did you remember?) a shorter one
    as in English was too long and very bad written.
    But I am also writing the Spanish history of the forties and fifties, when I was a child and went to the school
    with four years old.
    Misery was the rule those time, and of course there was not any money to buy anything for the children or
    to give to the schools.
    No trips, not feasts, no sport teams, nothing….
    Only a ball made with rags, frequently, and when the ball was of ruber we were happy.
    Girls and boys played together in the streets where there were not cars or nothing dangerous except our
    selves.

    Just a pity I can´t write it in English, too complicate.

    Nevertheless I read the ESL blog four or five times by day being conscious there are less friend´s posts.
    What can be done about that?, I don´t know.

    Thank you Parviz, you have been always kind with this old man.

    I have to look if it is possible to tell something of my stories in English, or could traslate them for
    you, or other, if there is interest on them, dear friend.

    emilliano

  8. Dan says:

    Hi

    I did not know there was a NPR over here in Europe. They are in Berlin.

    They too at a certain point during the year have a fundriser in order to keep going, since they get nothing from the German government.

    I donated last year, and I am going to do it this year as well.

    I was really surprised when I unexpectedly received a handwritten card of thanks from them with a sticker of their logo, which is now on the back window of my car.

    I believe to be the only one in Italy driving by with that sticker on my car. Over here nobody knows what NPR is.

    Thanks, bye.

  9. emiliano says:

    Hi Dan, thank you.
    I didn´t know NPR, but now I am searching the page
    and like you I think it could be interesting for all us
    English students.

    Thanks again Dan

    emiliano

Comments are closed.