Healthy School Fundraisers

...the holiday season will be upon us sooner than you think. In anticipation of this season, PTAs, charities, and religious organizations all over the country will be unveiling holiday fundraisers in the form of holiday wrapping paper, cookie dough sales, and mugs and calendars for grandparents. This is only some of the possible fundraisers that schools, religious organizations, and other community groups sponsor throughout the year.

I know as a parent I hate these fundraisers. How much gift wrap do you need? I could not eat another cheese cake or order anymore stationary for my children. How many trees have we cut down in the name of fundraisers? How much sugar have we consumed in order to supplement needed programs at our community organizations?

Anna Hackman, Green Talk

We were encouraged to shop at Target, collect box tops, buy school spirit wear, participate in the annual silent auction, and purchase wrapping paper, home gifts and "gourmet edibles" from a company that structures its product sales for school fund-raisers.

The "edibles" for sale include "Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle," "Chocolate Delight Caramel Popcorn," "Peppermint Stick Creams,". . . the list goes on! For me, this sends the wrong message to my son and his schoolmates.

Enlisting school children to sell junk food undermines the education that parents, teachers, food service directors, school nurses and many others in our school community are sending about the importance of healthy eating.

Jean Saunders
Healthy Schools Campaign School Wellness Director

Schools often rely on fundraisers to bridge budget gaps and help pay for athletic equipment, field trips, and supplies. But even though rates of childhood obesity have tripled in recent years, those fundraisers all too often rely on the sale of calorie-dense, low-nutrient junk food, according to a new report from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Fortunately, says the group, schools have a wide range of non-food and healthy-food fundraising options to choose from, and experience shows that these options can raise as much or even more money than junk-food sales.

CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan does not believe that parents should be put in the position of buy even more junk food to help pay for their children's education. "Why put parents in that position when there are perfectly good fundraisers that don't jeopardize children's health?"

New school wellness policies present an opportunity for parents, teachers, and school administrators to rethink unhealthy fundraisers, set nutrition standards for foods sold in schools, and to encourage physical activity, according to CSPI.

"It is time to junk the junk food fundraisers," said Wootan. "As a society we are sure to spend more on the resulting diet-related diseases than we could ever hope to raise selling junk food in schools."

Walk-a-thons

Runs - 5Ks, 10Ks,

Fun Runs

Dance-a-thon

Bowl-a-thon

Jump rope-a-thon

Golf tournaments

1. Selling Green Stuff
Several examples of Green Products (Smencils and a variety of Reusable Shopping Bags are listed below).

2. Recycling Fundraisers
Used cell phones, empty printer cartridges, cans, bags and re-usable clothing can all be collected by schools in exchange for cash.

3. Buying Green Online
Different organizations are making it easy for schools and other non-profits to host fundraisers, by giving them the option of hosting Virtual or online fundraisers.

4. Adopt-a-Tree
An Adopt-a-Tree fundraiser is a great way to raise funds, teach children about the role trees play in our everyday lives, and do something meaningful for the environment.

5. Community Cleanup
Raise funds by choosing a public area in need of a good cleanup, and get members of the community to sponsor your group.

6. Green-a-thon
Raise funds and exercise with a Green-a-thon such s a walk-a-thon or fun run. Pledgers can donate cash for every lap walked or run.

We are not even halfway through the school year and already I have been inundated with forms and catalogs from my daughter's school for fundraisers that almost always include low-quality foods, junk, or paper products that I neither need nor want. Stuff that is designed to clog up my closets while depleting resources and inevitably filling up landfills.

Isn't there are greener way for kids to help raise money for their school without trashing the planet?

Jenn, The Green Parent