Today was local council election day in NSW.
Polling booths are typically set up in local primary schools. Local primary schools then take the opportunity to sell all manner of product to the voters. It's a great opportunity to bleed the community dry, rather than school parents.
If I was prepared we would've had a sausage sizzle (good for about $3000), a cupcake stall ($1500), a cold drinks stall ($1000) and a bookstall (range: $500-$1000). Being the excellent and prepared Fundraising Coordinator that I am I didn't even realise there was an election on until nine days ago, let alone put together any suitable stalls to suck money from the voters.
Well we had one stall. A bookstall. And that was only because the Principal cornered me nine days ago (hence how I found out about the election) and begged me to get rid of all the books we didn't sell last year because they were clogging up storage at the school.
Backing up from our school carnival two weeks ago and our Father's Day breakfast one week ago it was not easy to get volunteers to work on the stall. However, I managed to scrape together enough for a five hour stint.
Problem is I overheard these sorts of remarks all day:
"You'd think they'd have a sausage sizzle""I must've arrived too early for the sausage sizzle, we'll have to come back later""I can't believe there's no sausage sizzle""Where are the cupcakes, they always have cupcakes""No coffee cart? At 8am? They're crazy, this is a captive market"
I know, I know, I agree with you but jeez you try pulling a mini fair together with an unwilling workforce.
Thank God for the lovely lady who said "Oh I love your bookstalls, you have the best bookstalls" as she filled her little trolley to the brim.
We may not have been selling food for the tummy but we were selling food for the soul.
*for non-aussies: two sausages (bangers) in a piece of bread (sanger = sandwich) or bun usually served with choice of tomato sauce/onions/mustard etc.
9 comments:
This is what can happen when it is left to one person. It is a responsibility that rests with the whole school community - not just you. Hold your head up high!
Hey, you organised something, I think you did well. This time of year is so crazy that scheduling in just one more event could easily result in meltdowns. If you factor that in, then your humble book stall is actually a massive achievement.
Oh I think I did very well in the circumstances. These experiences certainly remind me to be tolerant of the organisation of others.
If you pulled off a book stall in 9 days, I say you did good. If it is like things around here... "they" have tons of ideas, but "they" don't want to pitch in to put them together!
The sausage sizzle does sound nice though.
Man. What kind of a fundraiser are you? No sausage sizzle? No coffee cart? What do you mean you can't single-handedly sell books, make a latte and turn some snags? Sounds like it's time you handed over to someone else...like an enthusiastic kindy mum perhaps?
:)
I once pulled off a whole school fete single handedly. What a nightmare. I managed to scrounge up unwilling workers at the last minute and got crucified at the next P&C meeting for everything that wasn't there. I quit.
Good on you for the book stall. You have great fundraising idea's.
We bought 3 fabulous kids' books for $5 at our polling school on Sat, so I say a hearty thank you to mums like you for enriching my reading life.
Oh Ronnie! How did you manage to pull of the fete?! Like Melinda said, "they" who have the ideas rarely pitch in.
Thanks for all the supportive words, I'm just counting down the months until my term as F&F coordinator is over...
I am ashamed to say that for the first time ever I did not vote.
So you running a book stall seems like a massive achievement to me!
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