Read the threads with interest. I volunteer at an elementary school in the working-poor area of town. The President of the PTA holds annual fund-raisers, as mentioned in the other threads, the kind where you pay high prices to buy useless things out of a company catalogue, and the school hardly gets anything, which seems even more unfair under the circumstances of these children's lives. Most of the families here are undocumented immigrants, non-English speaking, the fathers do some kind of labor or restaurant work, some of the mothers work in cleaning jobs.

If anyone has any suggestions as to alternative fund-raising, I'd love to hear them. The PTA is holding a meeting on Tuesday morning, I will pass on any ideas.

Thanks.

Bake sale, raffle, craft fair, hit up any corporations, actual begging, all better than the above idea and profit margin is much higher.

Most of the families here are undocumented immigrants, non-English speaking,

So they are illegal aliens. My suggestion would be to deport them and let Mexico and South America deal with them. Run that one by your PTA.

You can't go wrong by sellin' moonshine. Get yourself a still set up dandy-quick by the nearest creek, Mexicans can pick the potatoes.

"Undocumented" is just a PC word for "illegal", yes?

Deport the criminals.
Let them clean up their own country.

Here, they're parasites.

So Pogue, Toothless Pete, and Leg Iron would be non-PC words for stupid oafs?

What part of my statement implies that I'm a "stupid oaf"?

That would be the part where instead of answering a legitmate question with a sensible answer, you took the opportunity to attack people and call them terrible names. Maybe your right, I shouldn't have said oaf, clod fits better.

Thank you for your ideas, and thank you for your reply to the other posters.

The most profitable fundraiser I've ever organized was a raffle. Got about 30 local businesses to donate a product and grouped complementary donations into 5 desirable packages (i.e., RT tickets on a local ferry, $25 gift certificate at a clam shack on the island, bike rentals, and a couple of beach towels). Made $1000 with no overhead (even the ticket printing was donated).

Perhaps a more productive use of PTA time would be working toward a viable solution for the illegal immigrant problem with their senators and representatives. Enough people make enough noise, they'll actually listen and do something (think of the influence of AARP).

"Terrible names".

When someone does something that is against the law they are criminal, yes? That's what the word "illegal" means; not legal. I posit that my use of that term is correct in this application.

An organism that benefits from a system beyond its contributions is more parasite than symbiote. I feel that this term is applicable, too.

Why aren't Mexican citizens applying "Si Se Puedo!" to their own governmental and economic problems rather than slipping under the wire and compounding our governmental and economic problems?

You appear to favor the ad hominem as a discussion tool.
(Very well...)
I shouldn't be surprised; that's a common tactic of gender-confused metro-twits. The hyper-hysterical tone you immediately take precludes actual debate and creates a mental picture of a Spandex-clad, nattily helmeted nimrod dancing up and down in place while flapping its delicate wrists in a display of overtly offended sensibilities.

See? That didn't add anything to the discussion, and it certainly didn't sway you to my side of the argument.
My reaction to being referred to as an oaf and a clod was similar; it facilitated my assumptions of you (however incorrect).

I may begin to view you as someone with actual valid input once you figure out how to present your points without tangenting off into a slur-fest.

Good luck with that.

You either donate what it would cost to bake something to donate, or what you would spend to buy something at a bake sale, or both.

Car washes are always good, if you can find a sponsor to let them use their facilities. Walmarts here are booked months in advance, because they will match a certain amount.

"Movie on the green" where you show a G-rated movie on a wall or large screen outside the school, and sell popcorn and the like.

Some kind of "Walk-a-Thon" or such, where they walk a distance or jump rope a centain number of times, or whatever, and people pledge based on what they do, or make a flat donation.

Elementary is tough, because many of the things teens can do to raise money, they are too young to do.

Make sure everyone knows about sponsirs like Target or Randall's, where a percentage of your purchases are donated to the school of your choice. A local restaurant had a deal where you turn in receipts to the school, and a percentage went to the school.

And don't forget Labels for Education. When my kids got out of elementary, I couldn't find anyone to take these! I gave some to a guy at work whose kids went to the same elementary as my kids, and he didn't seem interested. I gave him my phone number, for him or the kids to call if they wanted more. They never did. My niece asked for them, but she wanted me to trim them and count them and all that. No thanks! Finally, my church's pre-school started collecting them, so I drop them off there on Sundays.