That Saturday, the two men had been buried and most of the people in town had
shown up to offer the families their condolences. TechCorp NY, the
company that Angelo's father worked for, had paid the burial expenses, caskets,
funerals, hearses and limousines for the families, so some of the students and
parents who showed up for the meeting felt that they, the families, had been
more than compensated.
Darren St. Martin, one of the students, got up and reminded the audience that while the funerals had been paid for, there was still the matter of widows with young children to consider. Mrs. Molina had the new baby and two other children, ages five and three, and would need help until she could find a job and a reliable baby sitter. Mrs. Scheffield also had two young children and worked part time but had counted on her husband to be home nights so that she could work at her job as a waitress, which, even including tips, was not going to make up the loss of her husband's income.
Many of the people in attendance applauded. Some held out, refusing to be convinced. It was at this time that Angelo was asked to present his ideas.
"I'd like to add to Darren's comments," Angelo said, trying to remain brave in front of so many people, "That it's not just taking care of the children, but helping to pay their bills until they can get on their feet."
"One of my ideas had been for the students who like kids to offer to baby sit and then donate their fees to the project, but now I'm also wondering if there are any folks out there willing to baby sit for free while Mrs. Molina looks for a job, and if there are any adults out there who have jobs open where they work where they can refer her." he said, licking his lips nervously and wondering if there were going to be cries of protest at his first idea. No one spoke. He could see that people were really considering his words so he continued.
"Some of my ideas are run of the mill, some of them, some might consider funny although a rather unpleasant word was used for one of them in jest, but we have to remember that these ideas are for a good cause, and are meant in the spirit of fun, not mean spiritedness. All right?"
"What have you got for us, young man?" Mrs. Haver, one of the board members, asked kindly.
"Well, there are the usual bake sales and lemonade stands. I wrote out copies for all of you with the prices I thought people would find affordable and reasonable, such as cookies for five cents and brownies for ten. Whole batches of brownies or whole cakes for a dollar. Lemonade would be five cents a glass except for the special lemonade my mom makes with strawberries or raspberries in it, which, while it might sound strange tastes really good. We could charge ten cents for a glass of the specialty lemonade."
Again, hearing no immediate protests he continued down his list. It wasn't until he got to the idea that the students loved that the adults protested.
"That's extortion!" or, "That's blackmail!" or, "And who gets to clean it up afterward!?"
Angelo tried to smile. He'd known that this one was going to be a harder sell but he'd already spoken to the football team, who had, with Coach Young's permission, been more than willing not only to do the deed but to do the clean up afterward.
"Well," he agreed, "Yes, it could be thought of that way, but remember it's for a good cause, and the cost for either service isn't that high."
"So if I paid for Burt's house to be... treated, he'd be warned and able to pay to avoid it?" asked one man, with wide grin.
"You'd receive the same consideration, Mr. Greene, in case Mr. Carlton decided to ask us to TP your house." Angelo laughed, which got the audience laughing as well.
"Where do you plan to get all that toilet paper?" asked one interested parent.
"A... place... that wishes to remain nameless... has offered to donate as much as would be needed, but the hope is that people would be willing to pay the... fee... to protect their house from being TP'd which would make the offer of the donation unnecessary." Angelo grinned.
"What other ideas do you have?" asked Mr. Peters, another of the board members.
"Lots, sir. Donation jars in each classroom. The class that collects the most money gets a School Sanctioned Hooky Day." The announcement of that idea was met with cheers from the student population. "We already talked to Mr. Cobrane and Mr. Barnes about the idea and they said it was up to you, so please, consider it?" Angelo asked politely.
"A bunch of us have already approached businesses in town about this next idea, ladies and gentlemen," Angelo continued, hoping to follow the apparently unpopular idea with a more acceptable one. "One is that they will match whatever we raise, and some have donated items in lieu of matching donations."
"The sporting goods store has agreed to donate darts, and Kregees has agreed to donate two hundred bags of balloons. Georges' Barber shop, the A&W, Grammarcy's and several other places have offered coupons for free or discounted services. We would put the coupons in the ballons, blow them up and mount them. We'd sell five darts for twenty five cents and people would throw the darts at the balloons and win which ever prize or service that was printed on the coupon."
That was met with applause and Angelo took a breath to calm himself. He'd never spoken to an audience before but the more he did it the easier he found it.
"One idea that was brought to me by Mr. Cobrane was a talent show. We would charge ten cents for students and twenty five cents for adults, and volunteers would put on a variety show. Mr. Cobrane says he knows several clowns in the school who would be worth the money to see."
The audience laughed heartily at that and Mr. Cobrane smiled and bowed genteelly toward the people who turned and saluted him.
Angelo went down the list, hearing no more complaints or protests from the audience or the school board, even when he suggested allowing students to wear inoffensive tee shirts to school for a week provided they paid ten cents per day and didn't violate any other school rules with them.
There were ten more ideas which Angelo had either thought of or had been given to him, and he credited each person with their idea
The only other idea he didn't present to the audience but which every student in the school knew about and looked forward to was 'the invasion of the Garden Gnomes'.
Darren St. Martin, one of the students, got up and reminded the audience that while the funerals had been paid for, there was still the matter of widows with young children to consider. Mrs. Molina had the new baby and two other children, ages five and three, and would need help until she could find a job and a reliable baby sitter. Mrs. Scheffield also had two young children and worked part time but had counted on her husband to be home nights so that she could work at her job as a waitress, which, even including tips, was not going to make up the loss of her husband's income.
Many of the people in attendance applauded. Some held out, refusing to be convinced. It was at this time that Angelo was asked to present his ideas.
"I'd like to add to Darren's comments," Angelo said, trying to remain brave in front of so many people, "That it's not just taking care of the children, but helping to pay their bills until they can get on their feet."
"One of my ideas had been for the students who like kids to offer to baby sit and then donate their fees to the project, but now I'm also wondering if there are any folks out there willing to baby sit for free while Mrs. Molina looks for a job, and if there are any adults out there who have jobs open where they work where they can refer her." he said, licking his lips nervously and wondering if there were going to be cries of protest at his first idea. No one spoke. He could see that people were really considering his words so he continued.
"Some of my ideas are run of the mill, some of them, some might consider funny although a rather unpleasant word was used for one of them in jest, but we have to remember that these ideas are for a good cause, and are meant in the spirit of fun, not mean spiritedness. All right?"
"What have you got for us, young man?" Mrs. Haver, one of the board members, asked kindly.
"Well, there are the usual bake sales and lemonade stands. I wrote out copies for all of you with the prices I thought people would find affordable and reasonable, such as cookies for five cents and brownies for ten. Whole batches of brownies or whole cakes for a dollar. Lemonade would be five cents a glass except for the special lemonade my mom makes with strawberries or raspberries in it, which, while it might sound strange tastes really good. We could charge ten cents for a glass of the specialty lemonade."
Again, hearing no immediate protests he continued down his list. It wasn't until he got to the idea that the students loved that the adults protested.
"That's extortion!" or, "That's blackmail!" or, "And who gets to clean it up afterward!?"
Angelo tried to smile. He'd known that this one was going to be a harder sell but he'd already spoken to the football team, who had, with Coach Young's permission, been more than willing not only to do the deed but to do the clean up afterward.
"Well," he agreed, "Yes, it could be thought of that way, but remember it's for a good cause, and the cost for either service isn't that high."
"So if I paid for Burt's house to be... treated, he'd be warned and able to pay to avoid it?" asked one man, with wide grin.
"You'd receive the same consideration, Mr. Greene, in case Mr. Carlton decided to ask us to TP your house." Angelo laughed, which got the audience laughing as well.
"Where do you plan to get all that toilet paper?" asked one interested parent.
"A... place... that wishes to remain nameless... has offered to donate as much as would be needed, but the hope is that people would be willing to pay the... fee... to protect their house from being TP'd which would make the offer of the donation unnecessary." Angelo grinned.
"What other ideas do you have?" asked Mr. Peters, another of the board members.
"Lots, sir. Donation jars in each classroom. The class that collects the most money gets a School Sanctioned Hooky Day." The announcement of that idea was met with cheers from the student population. "We already talked to Mr. Cobrane and Mr. Barnes about the idea and they said it was up to you, so please, consider it?" Angelo asked politely.
"A bunch of us have already approached businesses in town about this next idea, ladies and gentlemen," Angelo continued, hoping to follow the apparently unpopular idea with a more acceptable one. "One is that they will match whatever we raise, and some have donated items in lieu of matching donations."
"The sporting goods store has agreed to donate darts, and Kregees has agreed to donate two hundred bags of balloons. Georges' Barber shop, the A&W, Grammarcy's and several other places have offered coupons for free or discounted services. We would put the coupons in the ballons, blow them up and mount them. We'd sell five darts for twenty five cents and people would throw the darts at the balloons and win which ever prize or service that was printed on the coupon."
That was met with applause and Angelo took a breath to calm himself. He'd never spoken to an audience before but the more he did it the easier he found it.
"One idea that was brought to me by Mr. Cobrane was a talent show. We would charge ten cents for students and twenty five cents for adults, and volunteers would put on a variety show. Mr. Cobrane says he knows several clowns in the school who would be worth the money to see."
The audience laughed heartily at that and Mr. Cobrane smiled and bowed genteelly toward the people who turned and saluted him.
Angelo went down the list, hearing no more complaints or protests from the audience or the school board, even when he suggested allowing students to wear inoffensive tee shirts to school for a week provided they paid ten cents per day and didn't violate any other school rules with them.
There were ten more ideas which Angelo had either thought of or had been given to him, and he credited each person with their idea
The only other idea he didn't present to the audience but which every student in the school knew about and looked forward to was 'the invasion of the Garden Gnomes'.
Morkey's, the store which had anonymously offered the donation of the toilet paper, had also donated the stock of Garden Gnomes which hadn't sold the year before.
The students would, sometime during the evening hours, leave the Gnomes on a lawn with a number to call for their removal, for a fee. The fee would be lowered if the person calling gave the address of another lawn which would be happy to host a party of Gnomes.
**********************************************************************************************************
NOTES
Other ideas for fund raisers:
car wash .25 cars, .50 pick ups, 1.00 for large vehicles (No 16 - 18 wheelers)
donate portion of birthday money or allowance
offer to babysit and donate earnings
Garden Gnome invasion - A large number of garden gnomes will be left on someone's lawn,
they will have to pay for removal, and if they want the gnomes 'relocated' to a different
neighbor's house, that will cost a little extra.
(Make sure it's a house where they don't *like* garden gnomes or might not get them back.)
Communal tag sale where everyone donates something for sale
Silent bidding - tables/chairs, donated crafted items
Tee Shirt Day - anyone wanting to wear a tee shirt must pay .25 per day (with restrictions)
Halloween in September - door to door wearing Halloween costumes and asking for pennies, nickles or dimes instead of 'candy'
Arrest and Bail - Pay to have someone arrested and then bail must be raised.
Sale of better art projects from Mrs. Christoff's classes
Cook Book - collection of favorite recipes made into booklets and sold, 2.00
woven bracelets and necklaces made from embroidery threads with bead clasps, the more intricate ones cost more
Ideas for Fundraisers by Sign Up Genius http://www.signupgenius.com/nonprofit/50-creative-and-easy-fundraising-ideas.cfm
¡Los extrañaba muchísimo !
ReplyDeleteGracias y espero por mas capítulos!
Alex.
Querido Alex,
DeleteMuchas gracias por tu comentario. Te agradezco que vuelvas a leer a Angelo y Amadeo. Espero tener más publicado pronto.