Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

As parents and educators, we are obviously very concerned with the overall health of our children. Although it has become very easy in our society to make unhealthy choices, we are increasingly becoming aware of opportunities to opt for those things that will make us stronger, more fit, and in the long run, happier.

This attention is starting to turn toward our schools. With the vast amount of time that a child spends at school each year, this is a very important front in the battle for a building a healthy lifestyle.

Many schools are addressing the issues of soda and candy vending machines in the schools. And although candy sales have long been a successful form of fundraising, some schools are now looking for ways to integrate their desire for good health into their need to raise money to support vital school functions.

Here are a few ideas of physical activities that combine exercise, fun, and the opportunity to generate lots of income. continue reading

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The Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis Area Dance Marathon was held on Saturday, November 3rd in the Athletic Complex. This year more students than ever attended the event — with 1,056 coming out to support the event. Students danced the with great enthusiasm.

They set a new fundraising record this year, raising $162,275 to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network of Greater St. Louis. The Children’s Miracle Network supports both the St. Louis Children’s Hospital and also the Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. Funds are used to purchase equipment, pay for renovations and hospital programs to help local children.

Last year the St. Louis Area Dance Marathon held by Washington University in St. Louis raised $123,00 for charity.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis Record

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Indiana University students raised more than $1 million to benefit the Riley Hospital for Children Indianapolis, Indiana with their popular annual dance marathon held DATE. Over 2,000 students danced for charity and fun at the Bloomington, Indiana campus. This was the 17th annual dance marathon for charity held by the university.

The event is held for 36-hours. It includes dancing, socializing and guest speakers.

“The measure of the health of a society is how that society cares for its children. Through (the) dance marathon you have showed that this is a very healthy society,” said Michael McRobbie, president of Indiana University, in a news release. “You have all been dancing for the treatment of children at Riley Hospital for Children. I am very proud of you all and the university is very proud of you all.”

The Indiana University Dance Marathon is directed by a student-run member council of 20 participants. They plan fundraising activities year-round to benefit and support the dance marathon.

Source: Indystar.com

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The Valley View Elementary School PTA held their annual Walkathon on Thursday, October 11th in Ellensburg, Washington. They raised $13,647 — and because of their efforts, Principal Brenda Welch came to school for Friday, October 26th on rollerblades.

Funds raised will benefit PTA programs like author visits and school assemblies. The PTA will also fund 100% of entry fees for field trips. The school raised $6,000 more than the average that was raised in previous years.

The school made their walkathon fun with unique fundraising prizes students found appealing. One student, Taylor Wilson who raised $349.46 gets to be Principal for a day. Principal Welch has other challenges based on how much was raised. If the school raised $9,000, she would dye her hair and also wear roller blades on Friday, October 26th. If the school raised $11,000, she would jump in the pool with all of her clothes on at the $200 club pool party. If the school raised $13,000, a student would get to throw a pie in her ace at an upcoming awards assembly.

Source: DailyRecord

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The Lead-Deadwood Elementary PTO is trying a different fundraiser for
their school in Deadwood, South Dakota, inspired by the District-wide
Wellness Plan. A “Fall into Reading” Read-A-Thon was held from
September 15th through 28th. The read-a-thon event was created to
encourage children to read more.

The read-a-thon is the school’s main fundraising for the year. The
goal is to raise the PTO’s annual budget of $15,000 with the
read-a-thon. The read-a-thon recieved lots of support from school
staff and parents.

Lots of ideas were presented as we tried to come up with something that we felt would work for the parents, teachers, kids, everyone involved. We were looking for something that fit in with the wellness plan, plus we were discouraged by the thought of giving up 60 percent of our profits as we had in years past. The group liked the idea of a Read-A-Thon and we also like the idea of having 100 percent of the funds we raise stay here to help our kids and our teachers in the classroom.” said Sandy Shirley, PTO Co-Chair.

The Lead-Deadwood Elementary School Principal, Tim Kosters agreed the read-a-thon was an excellent idea, “This is great for the kids as well as the staff. Our teachers will also benefit from the fundraising this year, as each will have the opportunity to submit a wish list to purchase things to use for their students and their classrooms. Most importantly, the kids will expand on their reading ability in the most critical learning years.”

Children that participate in the program will receive a complimentary
book appropriate to their age and reading level. As each child
raises $10, they “earn” $1 in “book bucks” that they can spend at the
November Scholastic Book Fair. The top fundraising class is awarded a
pizza party. The top fundraiser from each grade level is awarded a
prize that meets the Health and Wellness plan’s guidelines.

If you liked this article, you may want to read about this school
read-a-thon library fundraiser!

Source: Black Hills Pioneer

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