A Pocket Full of Money!

Today was Mister Man’s preschool’s silent auction and raffle. Of course, he’s currently in Florida, so he wasn’t there to enjoy the Cinco de Mayo festival, but it was pretty cool.

There were two parties during the day, and because I had no children to mind, I was able to be there from 8:30 am until 6pm – set up to every last thing put away – with no distractions. Both the morning and afternoon preschool classes really seemed to enjoy the parties, as did the parents who attended.

A couple classes sang and did dances during each party, which was so adorable. There were a couple of Hispanic boys who really got the dancing, even though they were only 4 or 5. They had their hands in the right places, their feet were in step, and they had great rhythm. Plus, they looked great in their cowboy boots and hats. Many of the girls were similarly attired in traditional Mexican garb, but none of the girls were half as good as two boys in particular.

There were also traditional dancers from the high school who came and danced for the students for about a half hour for each party, including costume changes. Now they were impressive. I have a feeling that I would have weighed less in high school had that been my hobby – those dances are fast and aerobic!

But best of all was the support for the fundraiser portion. When this was done two years ago (the last time it was done), I’ve been told it raised around $1,700 for the PTO. That’s good for us for a fundraiser, as our annual budget is well under $10,000. While we haven’t totaled up all the items, it appears as though we’ve raised in the neighborhood of $5,000 today! Not that anyone I know reads this, but in their hearts, they know that I am so very thankful to them for participating.

It was a lot of work to approach the local businesses and collect all the donations, not to mention getting the word out, putting together the displays, etc, but bringing in this much money – which will allow us to purchase so many things for the school and its students from more listening centers to mini-trampolines the therapists have requested to art supplies and more, not to mention helping the low income students attend field trips – is well worth the effort.

For anyone who lives in or near Chicago (or who has any of these chains nearby), please patronize them and thank them for supporting the Early Learning Center for special needs and at risk 3-5 year olds:

Sandy Ruff Photography
WineStyles
Cartoon Cuts
Barrington Fire Department
Barrington Park District
Catlow Theater
Color Me Mine
Dunkin' Donuts
Panera
Starbucks
The Canteen
Dinner by Design
Pizza Hut
Manic Mommy
Ace Hardware
Pet-A-Coat Junction
My Sister’s Obsession
Julie Buxbaum (author of The Opposite of Love)
Keson Industries
Schaumburg Flyers
Language Stars
Brunswick Zone
Dolphin Swim Club
Amazing Gracies
Barrington Chocolate and Ice Cream Shoppe
Portrait Innovations
Young Tootsies
Barrington Gyros
Crickets
Elevation Salon
Great Clips
Curves
Pump It Up
Village Pizza
Body Soulutions
Domino's Pizza
Aristica Wave Salon de Belleza
G. Whiz!
Jewel
Mia Francesca's
Evamarie Pilipuf
Learning Express
Go Roma!
Chuck E. Cheese
Cary Gymnastics
Wool Street
Stairway Studio
Chessie's Restaurant
Clarke's Deli and Bakery
Sanctuary Salon & Spa
Good Shepherd Health & Fitness
La Mesa

And next year, we hope it will only be better. After all, I’ll be PTO president then! As for now? I’m now working on our last fundraiser of the year. We’re selling gift cards to businesses at face value. The school earns a portion of every gift card purchased. Who doesn’t need or use gift cards, especially at the end of the school year when there are graduations, teacher gifts, etc? Hey – if any of the three of you reading are interested, let me know and I’ll get an order form to you (yeah, I see that happening!).