After serving a term on the Board of Directors at my son's preschool. I discovered that other parents are just as sick of selling candy bars as I am. With an eleven-year-old and a seven-year-old, I realized that I won't have a waistline by the time my kids graduate from high school as long as selling candy bars remains a fund-raising mainstay. Other moms confessed to me that I'm not the only one who can't resist the lure of chocolate in the freezer.
My oldest son was born in St. Paul. We've moved seven times since then, and in each city I've lived, I've met more parents and gained more product and community service ideas for fund raising. Most of these volunteer community service fund-raisers have been used successfully by groups such as the local YMCA or a day care center. They could easily be adapted to all those worthwhile causes that are important to parents of young children.
Bee Party
Hardworking honeybees supply the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with honey and wax for candles. A fund-raiser organized around a bee theme could sell honey, beeswax candles, and Burt's® bee balm for chapped lips. At its fund-raiser, Indian Creek Nature Center also offers candle making demonstrations, a bee trail with educational stations, kid crafts, preschool projectsgames and live music.
Butterfly Garden Starter Kit
Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, recently hosted a hugely popular butterfly exhibit. Many of the people who waited in line to see the butterflies were children. The Gardens capitalized on the phenomenal popularity of the butterflies by selling numerous butterfly-related gifts.
To raise money for your favorite charity, why not sell seed packets to grow flowers butterflies love, such as cosmos? The seed packets could be placed in a clay pot or attractive basket. In many areas of the country, the butterfly population is declining. A gift that attracts butterflies is bound to delight both adults and children.
Chef's Aprons with Fabric Paint
One year for Christmas, my oldest son decorated three blue canvas aprons for each of his grandmas with different colors of fabric paint. Since most grandparents love the art their grandchildren create just for them, why not sell plain chef’s aprons with two or three tubes of fabric paint? The aprons could be sold around the December holidays, Thanksgiving, or at Mother's or Father's Day.
Raw Supplies for Recycled Art
A few years ago, a shop in Baltimore, Maryland, sold recycled bits of lace, yarn, packing peanuts, and just about anything else imaginative kids could use to create art. Borrowing an idea from Clarendon Child Care Center in Arlington, Virginia, at our house I wash and save foam trays to use as the base for 3-D sculptures. I also save Popsicle sticks, the cotton that tops many medicine bottles, the aluminum lids from juice cans, egg cartons, oatmeal containers, tofu tubs, and much more.
A fund-raising group willing to collect the raw materials could offer kids and grown-ups the chance to buy bags of the stuff by the pound. Examples of recycled art could be displayed around the room for inspiration, and each bin could hold a different treasure, such as a bin of lace, another of buttons, and a third of cast-off shoulder pads. The most ambitious fund-raisers could offer books or magazines for sale that feature recycled crafts. Fund-raising groups that want to keep their overhead low could provide a photocopied list of books and periodicals on recycled art that are available at the local library. Providing creative ideas could help assuage parents who ask, "What will we do with all this stuff?"
Sick Kid Survival Kit
When my oldest son got chicken pox, after 10 days of quarantine, I struggled to find things for him to do. I even resorted to borrowing a VCR and TV; we didn't own either at the time. A fund-raising idea with foresight is a Sick Kid Survival Kit: a bottle of ginger ale in a basket that includes lots of fun things to do, such as mazes, puzzles, coloring sheets, and markers or crayons. If targeting children of diverse ages, a variety of baskets with age appropriate activities could be offered for sale.
Activities After School or During Winter Break
Just before Christmas, the Madison YMCA offers child care to parents rushing to finish their shopping and holiday preparations. Another group, such as a PTO, could easily provide a safe haven and fun outlet for kids for a few hours while their harried parents shop. My kids and their friends loved decorating blank t-shirts with fabric paint at my son Nicholas' tenth birthday party. If the kids brought their own t-shirts or other clothing to decorate, and the fund-raising group supplied the fabric paint, for a fee the kids could create art, while giving their parents a break. A win-win idea for everyone.