Law & Order

8 May

Stanford

As a second generation immigrant, Lesly Lozano, has clear goals for her future – to become a lawyer.  Her hard work at high school was recognized by Lead America, one of the nation’s educational leaders in personalized experiential learning for high school and middle school students.  Lead America collaborates with top colleges throughout the US to offer college immersion programs to better prepare students academically and emotionally for the transition to college life.

Attending the Law & Trial Conference at Stanford Law School allows students to step into the roles of prosecution and defense legal teams in a mock trial setting. The 10 day conference consists of faculty discussions, analysis of important case studies, real-world guest speakers and enriching off-campus field trips.

At first Lesly was excited, but then realized that the fee to attend was $3,200.00. Lesly would be the first to attend college and wanted to impact her sister, but the cost for the conference was above her family’s limits. Her hopes and dreams were so close and yet so far away.

“Lead America had fundraising ideas, but after reviewing them all, we realized that they did not leave a good profit. We also had to pay the money up front,” says Lesly’s mom, Maryvel, “I found Popcorn Palace on the internet and we immediately started selling at school, around the neighborhood, and to family members.”

Maryvel knows Stanford is an expensive university, but she wants her daughter to understand that if we set our minds to do something, we can accomplish anything in life. “What I love about Popcorn Palace is that customers are coming back for more. The product is such high quality that buying once is not enough. Selling Popcorn has been easier than I thought and the profits are great!”

For more information about Lead America, visit http://www.lead-america.org/

Tags:

Guest Post – Ten Basic Rules of Fundraising

12 Apr

A Mom's Guide to School Fundraising

TEN BASIC RULES OF FUNDRAISING

(not necessarily in this order)

I like top ten lists.  Always have!  They are easy, quick and to the point!  Having a set of guidelines to use when you take on fundraising, whether it’s for your school, your sports team or club, will help you stay focused on the task at hand!

 1.    Know your message.  This is a big one that people usually forget about.  It’s important to know what you’re putting out to your school community.  If the fundraiser is about helping a downsized teacher, don’t start a campaign about getting a nurse for an extra day a week.  Your message will be muddied and people will be turned off.

2.    Know your audience.  If your school community is geared toward math and science, you may not want to raise money for a new French language teacher for the school.  If your school is primarily a Spanish speaking community, make sure you are giving them the information in Spanish as well as English.  There are ways to make the community feel involved and welcomed.  Don’t let something that can be easily fixed be what brings your fundraising efforts down.

3.    Make what you’re asking for as clear as possible.  Always be specific.  Don’t just ask parents to make a donation to the walk-a-thon.  Ask them to set a specific goal. Give them that goal.  “We want to raise $100/child.”  That doesn’t mean you will get that, but you are working toward a goal.  Maybe you know ten people who want to donate $10/each.  Now you have made your goal.

4.    Ask politely.  You’d be amazed by how asking nicely can get you the answer you want.  Remember those golden rules from Kindergarten…they definitely apply here!

5.    Follow-up.  It takes a lot of hard work and organization to bring the money in.  Don’t just count on a donation letter (or worse, email) to get you the donations.  You must follow up with phone calls.  Make a personal connection to the people you are asking donations from.  It makes them feel special.

6.    Don’t give up.  There will be people who say no.  They may even be rude.  Don’t give up, and don’t stoop to their level!  Be gracious and kind, even when they yell at you to stop calling!!

7.    Send thank you notes.  Not only does it show that you appreciate their effort and donation, it may get you another donation the following year!  Whether it’s a tax letter thanking them or a collage by the students, let them know you care!

8.    Show people how they have made a difference.  People want to know that what they do is appreciated.  See #7 for more on that!

9.    Build relationships with businesses.  Businesses in your neighborhood want to help.  Helping you helps their business too.  Parents want to support businesses that support their school or club.  Businesses want new customers to come.  We help each other when we bring in the neighborhood businesses.

10. Have fun!  This is so important.  Stay positive and remember that the whole purpose of doing these fundraisers are for the kids!  If you turn it into a high drama, rant club, you will burn out (and never find anyone else to volunteer again either)!

IMG_20120601_105636About the Author: Sarah Barrett is a former teacher and small business owner with a MA in Education who has traded in her full-time career to dedicate her time and energy to fundraising for her neighborhood school.  She has just published her first book, A Mom’s Guide to School Fundraising, which is available on Kindle or paperback through Amazon.  For more information about Sarah or the book, go to www.amomsguidetoschoolfundraising.com.

Tags: ,

Ruck and Roll

12 Apr

Unlike American football, the laws of rugby are few and simple. Rugby action does not stop until someone scores, the ball goes out of bounds, or a rule is broken and teams don’t huddle to prepare strategy since no platoons for offense, defense, and special teams exist. Did we mention that players wear little or no protective gear in this full contact sport?

2011NationalChampions

The Fallbrook Girls Rugby Club has been ranked as the best rugby program in the US by Rugby Magazine and has even won the national championships. Marin Pinnell, along with her husband Craig, has been coaching girls aged 11-18 for the past 5 years.  She is a keen rugby supporter and is also the rugby club teacher advisor at Fallbrook High School where she also teaches Biology and Chemistry.

“We live in a socioeconomically low area and most of our girls cannot afford to travel without the help of fundraising,” says Marin,” The profits go towards airfare and ground transportation costs. We need every team member to win our next championship!”

For more information about USA Rugby, visit http://www.usarugby.org.

Twirl Mania!

28 Feb

Baton twirling is an artistic and aerobic sport that promotes physical fitness. Twirling combines dance and gymnastics while manipulating one, two or three batons. Baton is done individually, in pairs and in teams.

The 19-member team ranges in age from elementary school to college students. The Brattleboro Area Baton Twirlers have performed in high profile events such as the Half Time Show at Patriot’s Stadium to the National Independence Day Parade in Washington DC as well has many local parades, variety shows, health fairs and exhibitions.

Image

The Twirlers hold various fundraisers to raise money for their trips, as well as for new uniforms and a larger team banner.

“We are constantly searching for new opportunities,” says Cheryl Atamaniuk, “Every money raised counts towards subsidizing costs.”

To view performance clips, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBPjiFoilU

Tags: , ,

Got Kickball?

14 Feb

Are you ready for some kickball?? Many of us know kickball as a playground game in elementary school.

Little Miss Kickball takes it up a notch in Tarrant County. The girls compete in four levels- Pee Wee (ages 6-8), Junior (9-11), Senior (12-14) and Teenage (15-18). Like most junior athletic programs, the sport becomes faster and more sophisticated as girls move up the competitive ladder.

“Kickball is really a family affair”, says Andrea Harris. She first got involved over eight years ago when her daughter joined the Pee Wee division and has been coaching for at least six.

Image

“I am attached to many of the girls who have grown up in the league. Watching these girls blossom into great individuals and going off to college and returning to us to give back to the community as coaches and umpires is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. “

Fundraising is very important in order to keep the program going. It helps cover field expenses for developing adequate fields for hosting state tournaments. With new fields comes fences, score keeper boxes, score boards, bathroom rentals, dugout and concession stand improvements as well as lights for evening games.

Visit their website at http://www.girlskickball.com or their  Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NETKickball

Tags: ,

$8.95 Rush Shipping on Select Valentine’s Day Items!

7 Feb
DontBeLate_PostingGraphic(2)
CALL Popcorn Palace at 800-873-2686 and mention coupon code POPLOVE13, and you’ll get rush 3-day shipping on select Valentines Day items for only $8.95.
This offer is valid on the items below:
Hurry! Offer ends at 5 pm CST on Friday, February 8th, 2013! Call Popcorn Palace at 800-873-2686, and make Valetine’s sweet for your loved one!
Offer can not be used with other promotions or POP Dollars.

Create a New Flavor Twitter Contest

22 Jan

Calling all crafty and creative Popcorn Palace Tweeps! Are you culinarily inclined? Gastronomically gifted? Put your genius to the test in our Create a New Flavor Twitter Contest. Between now and 5:00 p.m. CT, Monday, January 28, 2013, tweet your most adventurous, creative, and delicious flavor ideas to #PopFlav.  We’ll announce the winning entry by Tuesday, January 29. The winner will receive a $25 credit to the Popcorn Palace online store!

RULES:

- No purchase necessary to enter.
- Open to US Residents only.
- Entries must include #PopFlav to be accepted.
- Contest ends Monday, January 28, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. CT.
- Winner will be selected by a Popcorn Palace judge based on creativity and culinary appeal, and will be announced on or before Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. CT.
- Winner will be notified via Twitter Direct Message. Once notified, winner is responsible for responding with their email addresses and phone number.
- Employees, interns, contractors and vendors, as well as their immediate families, of Popcorn Palace, its affiliates, and any representatives or agencies of Popcorn Palace or other persons professionally connected to the Contest are not eligible to participate.
-Popcorn Palace assumes no liability or responsibility for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, or technical or human error which may occur in the processing of entries.
- Judges’ decisions are final.

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.