Comments (1)

By Mom Unplugged, February 2, 2010 11:51 am

$1,350.03

That’s how much a class of thirteen 6 to 9 year-olds raised for

Partners in Health’s Haiti relief fund

with a simple Book & Bake Sale!

If they can do it, you can do it too!

How they did it:

Two weeks ahead of time:

• They hung a sign on the school door asking for donations of books and baked goods for our Haiti fundraiser.
• They placed an empty box in the school entryway for collecting the books.
• They also put a sealed box in the lobby for any impromptu donations.

Day before, set-up:

• The day before the sale they accepted baked goods.
• After school they sorted the books into children and adult piles.
• They organized the children’s books into separate boxes and baskets based on level (picture books, readers, chapter books).
• Everything was set up on tables in our tiny school entryway with a simple pricing system posted.

The Sale:

• The morning of the sale, they set up the baked goods outside the door on a table (it was so cold and snowy that there was no danger of spoilage!).
• The school is on a side street, so they put out a sign on the main road nearby.  They also put signs in the grocery store and the library.  All signs said clearly that proceeds would be for Haiti.
• The sealed box went to a prominent location on the book table, with a basket nearby with a few small bills and coins for making change.
• They hung a Haitian flag and also posted some information about Partners in Health so any interested people could read more about where their money would be going.

Post-Sale:

• I helped them sort through the leftover books and we separated the ones that were fairly recent and looked pretty new.
• We took these “good” leftovers to our local bookstore so the owner could buy any that would work for her used book section. She ended up buying almost all of them, and even gave us more than her normal cash price since we were doing this for Haiti!  (Be sure to let a bookstore know that you are selling for Haiti)
• The kids packed up the other books and we put them in storage for our annual school yard sale.

Counting:

• Practical math lesson:  The children counted the cash and were SO excited, especially when they found a $100 bill in the box!
• Their teacher counted the checks for privacy reasons (NOTE:  For ease of accounting, we made sure people made their checks out directly to Partners in Health and not to our school).
• I took the cash to the bank and traded it in for a cashiers check made out to Partners in Health.

And voilà!  Not a whole lot of effort really, but now we have a nice donation to send off to Partners in Health and the kids feel GREAT!

Why not try it with your school?

For more fundraising ideas, please read Help Your Kids Help Haiti.

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, January 26, 2010 12:32 pm

Do your kids have questions about Haiti and the relief effort there?  Do they want to know more about how to mobilize their schools and communities to help?

Then they might be interested in participating in (or even just watching) an online discussion tonight with Dr. Jim Yong Kim, physician, president of Dartmouth College, and one of the founders of Partners in Health (PIH), a leading aid organization in Haiti.

My good friend (and the most well-informed person I know) Wishy,  just let me know about this great opportunity for students of all ages (elementary through grad school).  It will take place tonight at 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Students can even send in questions ahead of time by email to sdhr at dartmouth dot edu. The subject line should contain the words: “JYK TALK: Your name, your school”.

The talk will happen via live online video stream at the PIH website:

5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

LIVE VIDEO STREAM LINK

++++++++++

PS.  Our “Book and Bake Bonanza for Haiti” is scheduled for this Thursday.  I’ll let you all know how it goes!  If you are interested in some ideas on how to get your kids involved raising money for Haiti, please read my post:  Help Your Kids Help Haiti.

Comments (16)

By Mom Unplugged, January 15, 2010 5:12 pm

My children’s elementary class is organizing an emergency “Book and Bake Bonanza” to take place next week.  They are frantically trying to collect books and baked goods to sell in order to raise money for Haiti.  Obviously money is needed NOW, so they must act quickly and there is no time for an elaborate fundraiser.

Will used books sell?  We don’t know, but we need to try something and one of the kids came up with the idea.  Anything we can earn will help, no matter how small.

(UPDATE:  The result of our little fundraiser?  A whopping $1,350.03!!  Read here for more details about how we did it.)

Why not organize a speedy fundraiser for your children’s school?  If you homeschool, then combine a quick study of Haiti with a smaller scale family-style fundraiser.

Here are some quick and easy fundraising ideas:

• Bake sale
• Lemonade or hot chocolate or cookie stand in your driveway
• Garage Sale (if you can put it together fast, yard sales can be very time consuming)
• Used book sale
• Raffle something off
• Car wash (or an interior car detailing day if it is too cold for a car wash, or you don’t want to use water)
• A simple donation box in your school or workplace
• A penny drive in your children’s school (Thanks very much to Jen for this simple yet effective idea!)

And here are a few less obvious ones that could possibly be put together fairly rapidly:

• Board Game Competition:  Charge an entry fee for each team or individual.  If you want, give a small portion of this as a prize, or give a donated prize.
• Dog Wash (if you can do it indoors or you live somewhere warm).
• How Many in the Jar?:  Fill a jar with M&Ms, marbles, rocks, anything small!  Have people guess how many objects are in the jar.  Sell guess forms for $1 or $2 a piece and split the earnings with the person who gets the closest.
• Show Up in Your Jammies Day:  (For schools) Sell tickets entitling the purchaser  to wear your pajamas to school for a day.  Encourage teachers and administrators to join in also.  Sell donuts and bagels before school for breakfast.
• Traveling Hobo Band:  I can’t really explain this one, but it is pretty funny and spontaneous.  Read more here.
• Windshield Washing

Who to give to?

The NPR website published a list of aid organizations that are helping Haiti during this disaster.

• Partners in Health (co-founded by Dr. Paul Farmer) is one I only recently learned about via my friend Wishy.  PIH has been extremely involved in Haitian health care and social justice for over 20 years.
• I have also always greatly admired the amazing Doctors Without Borders.
• Do your homework.  You can always check out any charity before you donate on CharityNavigator.org and NetworkForGood.org.

Remember, even a small amount of money can make a big difference!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Don’t underestimate the power of even a simple bake sale. In December, my children’s Montessori School class raised over $870 for Heifer International with a one day bake sale!

Comments (6)

By Mom Unplugged, May 27, 2008 9:44 pm

Those of you who have been visiting Unplug Your Kids for a while, might remember my children’s Heifer International fund raising efforts. They made and sold Christmas ornaments, and earned money from their “Candy Bank” to contribute to my oldest daughter, E’s, class charity fundraising project.

E got so wrapped up in the fun of helping others, that she announced that for Christmas she wanted a book about different charities and what they do. “Santa” brought her A Kids Guide to Giving by Freddi Zeiler.

I promised you a review if we liked it, so here it is – finally!

Ms. Zeiler (age 20 at the time of publication) really began work on this book at age 14 when she became interested in charities, and started researching and compiling notes on different charitable organizations and how they spend their money. Her parents encouraged her to expand her research and turn it into a book to inspire other young people.

This book was just what E was hoping for. The first half discusses why to give, how to choose a cause, types of contributions (money, things, and time/effort), fund-raising ideas, and more. There are also sections on why it is important to know how a charity spends its money and how to avoid scams.

The last portion is a guide to tons of kid-friendly charities arranged by subject (“People,” “Animals,” and “The Environment”). It explains what each charity does and gives contact information, website, breakdown of how each dollar donated is spent, etc.

There is a small section for notes at the end, although my daughter likes to just put a check mark by her preferred charities. The hard cover and fold-over magnetic flap make it appealing in almost a diary, or notebook-like way.

My daughter likes to sit and read it, and I am happy to let her do so. Since this is a guide for children, the charities are comprehensible to children. You will not find yourself having to explain to your 7 year-old what a rape crisis center is, for example.

My children’s “charity of the day” is the African Wildlife Foundation (discovered through this book). They have already “adopted” one animal, a leopard, and are working on raising money to adopt another.

A final note: The recommended age range for the A Kids Guide to Giving, is 12 and up. My daughter is only 7, but she is an excellent reader. In my opinion, this book is suitable for children younger than age 12 provided they have the necessary interest and reading skills.

GREAT REALTED LINK: Topaz Took was kind enough to offer a link (in her comment on my Heifer-results post) to a wonderful website called Doing Good Together, about volunteering together as a family. There is a wealth of information including how to get your family involved in helping others, as well as an interesting resources section (books, videos, and websites arranged by topic and age). Thank you Topaz!

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, March 15, 2008 5:19 pm

A Heifer International fund raising update:

My daughter’s Montessori class ( 1st-3rd grade) of 20 children raised a total of $1,067 to donate to Heifer International! Each child raised money their own way.

Last semester the class studied basic human needs, and this semester they are studying the continent of Africa. This fund raising project ties in with both those themes.

My daughter (and 5 year-old son) made and sold Christmas ornaments by the side of the road and contributed candy and junky “toys” to their Candy Bank to earn money for the project. In addition to each child’s individual earnings, the class also held a bake sale in the school parking lot (on a very snowy day!!).

I just wanted to post an update about this project since someone out there who knew my address, was so kind as to spread the word and organize contributions from all over the country. Truly amazing!  Thank you again whoever you are!

The class earned nearly double their original goal and instead of buying an animal or two for one family, they are able to fund a project that will help an entire African village.

Your generosity, and that of our local community, makes a HUGE difference. Not only to a village in Africa, but to my daughter and her classmates who now know how good it feels to give and to help others. Thank you!

Photo (Zambia) courtesy of Heifer International.