Welch Whirl

Fundraisers and Hooters?



My sister's blog reminded me of how creative (or desperate) public schools are when it comes to raising money. For example, our kids were recently asked to participate in a walk-a-thon. A classic fundraiser to be sure (boring and safe), but by no means the only option.

For instance, my little sister did a Jazz-a-thon (Jazzercise). I participated in numerous Jump-a-thons (jump-roping). And I even once (wait for it) took part in a Wing-a-thon. Yes, we ate buffalo wings to raise money. Not just any wings, either. Wings from Hooters. Yes, Hooters.

Not surprisingly, pitching this idea to potential donors/neighbors was a hard sell. For one thing, the fundraiser was for sports (hardly a cause that is conducive to wing-consumption). Second of all, there's the question of whether high school kids should be hanging out at Hooters. (Seriously, what message was my school trying to send?) Regardless, I participated. I even ate 11 wings before my mouth was on FIRE.

Back to the walk-a-thon. Basically, my kids spent an hour doing laps around the schoolyard. Lots of laps. Rosie ran just over 4.5 miles. Wiley did just over 3.5 miles. Thankfully, I did NOT sponsor them for each lap they ran (I did the flat fee). Of course, I didn't tell them that ...

In the end, the school made a couple bucks and my kids got some exercise. Everybody wins. But it did get me thinking about concocting a fundraiser of my own. The key is to get people to pay me to do something I already enjoy doing. Hmmmm .... how about a Watch-The-Biggest-Loser-a-Thon, or Eat-Warm-Fudgy-Brownies-With-Chocolate-Sauce-a-Thon, or Shopping-For-Clothes-a-Thon. The possibilities are endless.

Please contact me if you would like to participate and/or donate to such a worthy cause.