posted on October 9, 2001 08:39:21 AM
My son started kindergarten in August and being the get-involved-in-my-kids-education type of Mommy that I am, I am already working on ways to earn money for the school (the President of the PTO has already told me she wants me to volunteer for some fundraising "stuff" - surprise, surprise - hee hee. Personally, I`m looking to head up a parent`s safety committee to address safety/violence related issues at the school...can you tell I`ve become a firm believer in the writings of Gavin deBecker?!?! But that`s another story).
Anyway, one of the things my son`s elementary school is doing to raise money is to save the "Box Tops for Education" logos from General Mills products. The General Mills Box Tops for Education are each worth 10 cents and are found on such General Mills products as: Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Total, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll-ups, Fruit Gushers, Dunkaroos, Yoplait yogurt multipacks, Potato Buds, Suddenly Salad, Bisquick, Yoplait Go-Gurt yogurt, Bac-os, Supermoist cake mix, Betty Crocker frosting, Betty Crocker supreme brownies, Betty Crocker supreme dessert bars, Betty Crocker potato side dishes, Lloyd`s barbeque buckets, Hamburger Helper, Chicken Helper, and Tuna Helper.
Last year`s efforts generated over $900 for the school; the goal for the 2001-2002 school year is $1100. If anyone (who isn`t already saving these logos for their own children/grandchildren) is interested in saving these for me, please post a reply. I`d be willing to reimburse folks for postage on getting the logos to me (I`m guestimating that one could fit quite a few logos into a single standard envelope).
I`m having trouble getting pictures of the logo in this message, so please check out this website to see the logos I am requesting folks save for my son`s school. www.boxtops4education.com/works/logo.asp
The logos do have an expiration date on them. Looking at some of the ones on cereal boxes I have here at home, it appears they expire in June 2002. So as you clip the logos from the various General Mills packages, please check to make sure the expiration date is far enough in advance that when I receive them from you they will still be valid. I am assuming that General Mills sets these expiration dates far enough into the future so that folks can collect them for the entire school year and turn them in at the end of the school year and still get credit for them.
By the way, I personally will be collecting them year-round, most likely saving the ones collected over the summer until school begins again in the fall.
posted on October 10, 2001 01:01:26 PM
I have created a flyer I plan to distribute around my neighborhood to get neighbors to participate in this project as well. There are probably a lot of folks who would save these Box Tops if they only knew how valuable they are to their local schools (if you don't have children/grand children in school, one may not think to save them).
Anyone who is interested in helping me with this project and would like to enlist the help of your neighbors, please send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you a copy of the flyer I created. You may want to modify it a bit, changing the contact name/telephone number/address as appropriate. Thanks again for your help and support!
posted on October 12, 2001 10:38:52 AM
You are going about this the wrong way, post a thread called "Boxtops for Democrats" and you will get a huge response.
posted on October 12, 2001 09:15:38 PM
sallyhoffman I'm telling you this just in case someone forgets to tell you. Thanks for all you do for your school. It is hard to find parents like you who want to help and make the time to help. Thankyou!
This comes from a PTO treasurer who knows what kind of work goes into being a volunteer . In my school everyone has an excuse as to why they can not help.
posted on October 13, 2001 06:07:20 AM
Kept2much, thank you for the words of encouragement! My husband and I firmly believe in getting involved in our children's education and joining the PTO is one of the ways we can do that.
If anyone has other chat forums they frequent that get a lot of traffic, please email me at [email protected] and let me know! I'm on a mission to get the word spread about folks helping me save these Box Tops and am looking for other forums to leave posts!
posted on October 16, 2001 10:07:18 AM
Yippy Skippy - just checked my email and was pleasantly surprised to see more cyber-friends joining the effort to help me save Box Tops!
Thanks everyone - I really do appreciate the kind words and all your help!
posted on October 16, 2001 12:00:29 PM
You seem to be doing a lot of talking to yourself here, so I thought I would say that probably 90% of those who post here already have school districts that they would like to support by giving the box tops to their own schools, good luck with your effort though.
posted on October 16, 2001 04:26:39 PM
Snowydayz, while it may seem like I am talking to myself a lot via this post, I have received many email responses from this post from folks who are more than willing help me in my quest to collect Box Tops. So, as long as folks are listening, I will keep talking...
I'm one determined person and plan to recruit as many folks as I can for as long as it takes....let's see, I'll be supporting my local elementary school for the next 7 or 8 years, so be assured, you'll be seeing lots of posts from me!
posted on October 17, 2001 05:20:42 AM
bump in hopes of getting more recruits today! Keep the emails coming folks, I really do appreciate the support. I will be bringing 100+ box tops to school today, thanks to the many cyber friends who are helping me collect them!
posted on October 17, 2001 11:01:58 AM
To clarify things for those of you who may be seeing/reading posts requesting General Mills Box Tops from two different usernames (sallyhoffman and barparts), sallyhoffman and barparts are not one in the same person. Barparts is someone who apparently saw my 10/9/2001 post on this site requesting Box Tops for Education (http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=28&thread=123294)
and copied it almost verbatim to create his/her own post requesting the same items. This also happened on a number of other chat forums I frequent....I guess I should be flattered, as copying is the best form of flattery, right?
I hope barparts succeeds in his/her school fund raising efforts. I only wish they had not used my words almost verbatim to do it. It may work to my advantage, however. Many folks have replied to me via email, mentioned the other post by barparts, and realized I had made the request first and have been collecting box tops for my son's school. So, perhaps the early bird goes get the worm!
posted on October 18, 2001 10:45:58 AM
For anyone interested in promoting the Box Tops for Education program in their own community, place an ad in your local newspaper advertising this program!
My local newspaper has an ad area called "The Back Page", which is part of the Tuesday and Wednesday editions. Announcements, want ads, messages, etc. are included in this special section, which is listed on the back page of the newspaper along with local weather and obituaries.
I just submitted my ad to run next Tuesday and Wednesday - and it only costs $2 a line per day. My ad was 3 lines long, so all it cost me was $12 for two days worth of advertising. I`m hoping this will generate awareness within the community about this great school fund raiser and get folks to participate, regardless of which school the Box Tops are ultimately donated to - the whole idea is to raise money for local schools, who as we all know can use all the extra funds they can get!
My ad will look something like this:
Support (your community`s name here) schools - save Box Tops for Education logos! For info., call (your telephone number here).
That`s it! Here`s hoping my phone will be ringing off the hook when next Tuesday`s edition of the paper rolls off the presses!
posted on October 19, 2001 05:12:34 AM
Kept2much, I forgot to ask you in my earlier post, what other fund raisers does your school get involved in? I am always on the lookout for new ways to generate money for the schools.
One program I started at my son`s preschool was a plastic grocery bag recycling program -families collect clean plastic grocery bags from participating stores, send them to a company called Enviro-Bag, who recycles the bags into garbage bags which are then stocked on the shelves of the participating stores. The schools can earn up to $1.00 per pound of clean plastic bags. I`m hoping to get the program started at my son`s elementary school. It`s a great way to teach the kids about recycling and earning money for the school at the same time.
Another great fund raiser is the Scrip program, whereby you pre-buy gift certificates and participating merchants donate a percentage of the face value of the gift certificate to the school. The beauty of this fund raiser is that it does not cost the parents any additional monies - you use your existing shopping habits, and with a little pre-planning, can earn money for your school without spending extra dollars.
If you think your school PTO might be interested in either of these fund raisers, send me an email at [email protected] and I can send you more info.
posted on October 19, 2001 06:27:39 AM
I collect them for my school also, but I don't go spamming all the boards with it. You're all over the auction sites like algae.
Whenever I see promotions like this, I avoid helping. You have not only asked for help, but are also denying barparts from doing his or her part for his or her child's school. You're slamming another parent!
I wonder what would happen if 10 more people came here and solicited us? Would you attack all of them?
Sallyhoffman, I see you do a lot of charity work and that's fine, but everytime you do, you spam the auction chat boards. You're the only one to do that. How you get away with it, I have no idea, but you really should stop bumping this thread. Selfish is as selfish does. I contribute to my own school systems. I contribute to my own ACS, why do I have to be forced into contributing to yours?
AW, hope this isn't considered personal, as it's not. It's against spam on the chat boards.
posted on October 19, 2001 08:00:29 AM
Jmho2, part of the reason I post on many forums is to raise awareness for whatever program I am posting about. If folks would rather collect box tops (or money for ACS or whatever other organization....) for their own community, that is fine. The idea is to get folks within communities to participate.
In terms of the box tops program, we all know schools in general can use all the help with additional funds they can get - each of us has to do what we feel comfortable with.
If folks would rather send their Box Tops to their local school rather to me, that`s great - I am sure they would greatly appreciate the support. Just be sure to check with office staff first to be sure your school participates in the program.
The same could be said of the American Cancer Society fund raising I was involved in earlier this summer. I stated in many of my posts that if folks wanted to donate to their local chapter or via ACS's national website, that would be a super way to help support this wonderful organization. Again, the primary reason for the posts was to raise awareness within the general cyber community.
I am in no way hindering barparts from posting his/her requests for anything. I am simply pointing out that by his/her copying my request for box tops almost verbatim, he/she is creating a lot of confusion on the various boards making people think we are one and the same person. When people begin thinking we are the same person because he/she copied my posts almost verbatim and my character and/or reputation are being questioned, I do take it personally and will post truthful, accurate information in these threads to set the record straight...period!
I've said it before and I'll say it again - I do admire barparts willingness to help his/her daughter`s school raise money; I only object to his/her methods in this case. Is it really so unreasonable to ask that his/her post be unique enough from mine (or anyone else that may post the same request) so there is absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that the posts are being generated from different people? That's all I am asking barparts to do.
I would also like to address your commment (your verbiage here): "I wonder what would happen if 10 more people came here and solicited us? Would you attack all of them?." Again, my objection with barparts' post is that the wording is so close to mine that people think we are the same person. I would welcome other people who might come to this forum to solicit participation in whatever fund raiser they are trying to promote. I'd try to help them in whatever way I can!
Here's an example. On one of the forums, someone was asking for help saving Campbell's soup labels for their child's school. I contacted this person via email and said I'd be more than happy to save them for her; she agreed to save Box Tops for me. I'd be saving labels for her even if she wasn't saving the Box Tops for me - it's a fellow parent trying to help their child's school - of course I will help!
On a related topic, I have been trying to solicit ideas from other parents, including barparts, on other fund raisers their schools find successful. To this end, I have also listed some of the fund raising programs I have been directly involved with (yes, I did post these ideas in barparts threads, as a way to share information with him/her). Again, the idea is to share information and to get folks within communities to participate.
For those that tire of seeing my threads (or anyone else's for that matter), you already know what subject matter it relates to, you can simply ignore it and move on with the rest of the posts that interest you.
AW, please help set the record straight here. Is bumping a single thread once a day or once every couple days considered spamming a chat forum? If it is, I do apologize - that was not my intent. A lot of folks read these boards and my intent with the daily (or once every couple days) bumping was to raise awareness to any newcomers to the forum.
posted on October 19, 2001 10:16:19 AM
Promote literacy and fund raise at the same time. Get a read-a-thon started. Children get sponsers per book they read, it doesn't matter if it's .01 per book or $1.00 per book. Teachers get involved to verify that the student is reading books and counting them, that are only at the appropriate grade level or above, and the student must write a short snyopsis of the book (w/out copying it off the back of the book). At the end of a specified time period (typically 30 days), the students then collect the sponsored funds and the class who raises the most funds for the school as a pizza part. Award certificates are handed out to all students who participate (that's inexpensive because they can be run off via computer/printer).
