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Last summer, the wonderful non-profit preschool my daughter attended faced the threat of permanent closure due to the pandemic and declining enrollment. With no returning board members, a small group of dedicated parents decided to step in and try to keep the school operational.
Despite our enthusiasm, we quickly realized we lacked sufficient funds to sustain the school year and took a leap of faith that fundraising would bridge the gap. Thanks to contributions from alumni parents, we managed to get somewhat closer to our goal. However, organizing numerous fundraisers proved to be incredibly time-consuming, as anyone involved in fundraising for their kids’ activities can attest.
It was exhausting. To make matters worse, participation was disappointingly low. In hindsight, I would have been better off writing a $1,000 check directly to the school, as that’s how much I ultimately spent out of pocket—more than what we actually raised. It was disheartening to see our efforts to benefit the community go largely unrecognized; even selling raffle tickets seemed like a monumental challenge.
I understand the parents’ reluctance; we are bombarded with fundraising requests. I have four children engaged in various activities, and over the past year, I’ve been asked to sell items for their events a staggering THIRTY-SEVEN times. Yes, I counted. Given the sheer volume of requests, it’s unrealistic to expect anyone to keep up. How many times can I ask Grandma to buy candles when she’s also getting pitched by her other grandchildren?
While I support raising money for essential expenses, such as keeping a school afloat, it feels excessive to fundraise for items like home jerseys, away jerseys, warm-up suits, custom banners, personalized bags, and other unnecessary frills. Our kids don’t need these luxuries, especially at the expense of our sanity, time, and budgets. Let’s be real—most of the fundraising workload falls on mothers, consuming countless hours for items our kids could do without.
Look at what our children have endured in the past year. Their resilience shows they can thrive without all this excess. Perhaps our support and pride in their achievements are what they truly need. Imagine how much more quality time we could share if we weren’t preoccupied with fundraising for items that don’t matter.
Can we please return to simpler times when kids received just a t-shirt as their uniform? That was the home uniform, away uniform, and keepsake for the year. Moms could show up to watch games and help out occasionally, which sounds so much more appealing, right?
Moreover, not every family can afford the costs associated with these relentless fundraisers. Where’s the inclusivity in that? It shouldn’t cost families $600 per season for their kids to play basketball. When kids genuinely want to raise funds for something significant, they often encounter a burnout from all the previous requests.
Now that we’ve all learned to live without excess over the past year, can we take this opportunity to trim down the “extras” that have infiltrated our children’s activities? I assure you, they won’t miss it. They’d likely prefer our time and attention instead.
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