Deliver Us from School Fundraisers

My son dragged me to a PTA meeting tonight. They’re kicking off the annual school Spell-A-Thon, which roughly translated, means Give us money to sponsor your child in their weekly spelling test and we’ll give them cheap dollar store prizes to make them go door to door.

I hate fundraisers. I’d rather just give the school money, and have them not brainwash my child into believing that he MUST raise $1000 dollars to get his classroom a pizza party. Good golly, Miss Molly.

When I was growing up, I vividly remember trying to sell candles and gifts. You know, those fourteen dollar tins of chocolate caramels that were nasty-tasting? And the mixed nuts that were smaller than a jar of Planters, but retailed at $19.95? My poor neighbors probably hid when they saw me coming. I managed to sell enough to win one of those walkman speakers. The darned thing plugged into my walkman and worked for about a week before it broke. My hopes and dreams were shattered, and I saw the dark side of fundraising. :hissyfit:

In high school, I sold nuts. It actually wasn’t bad, because a neighborhood lady did a lot of holiday baking and my nuts were cheaper than those at the grocery store. My parents dutifully supported me, but alas, there were no prizes.

(Aside: The only fundraiser that I fully support is Girl Scout Cookies. Oh, for the love of Thin Mints. Heaven, I tell you. I buy wayyyyy too many of those.)

My four-year-old daughter came home with a fundraiser for the Yankee Candle Factory. FOUR. YEARS. OLD. :angry: You’ve got to be kidding me. And we pay preschool tuition. Um, that catalog kind of made its way into the circular files. Shh…

What fundraisers do you despise the most? Or which ones do you actually like?