Central School is nearing it’s 100th day of classes this year. To commemorate this milestone the kids at the school have split into groups and are putting together efforts based around the number 100. One group has decided they would like to raise funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. This group of 1st graders are focusing their efforts on building shelters and new homes for the residents of Haiti.

The group has chosen Habitat for Humanity as their charity to support focusing specifically on their Disaster Response arm. According to their web site, the mission of Habitat’s Disaster Response arm is:

To develop innovative housing and shelter assistance models that generate sustainable interventions for people vulnerable to or affected by disasters or conflicts. In addition, Disaster Response builds the capacity of the global Habitat community in the areas of disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery through education, training and partnerships.

To symbolize their support for the organization, the group from Central School is nailing 100 nails into 4 boards (one for each child) to kick off the building of new shelters and donating $1 per nail for a total of $100.

If you would like to help the team please consider donating to Habitat for Humanity as well.

The intent here is not to ridicule the kids. They’re kids after all and likely have absolutely no desire to sell cookies! The point is to take a look at this tradition with new eyes and not just go through the motions “because you did it” or “we’ve done it every other year.”

Many folks’ experiences typically end up as follows:

-       hit up the neighbors

-       bring the order form to work and guilt trip your co-workers with cute pictures of your kids (along with promises of kid delivery when cookies arrive)

-       guilt trip your local family into ordering

-       and, when all else fails, buy a bunch of boxes yourself

What does this teach our girls? Some would argue this sets up an educational opportunity where goals can be set, achievement plans created and success measured and rewarded. In reality, this usually doesn’t happen.

Your scout will agree to a quota and make attempts to sell to neighbors which is limited to your immediate vicinity since it’s Winter in Glen Rock and walking around the neighborhood is not very much fun.

You can’t ask your friends to purchase because they are likely going through the same dance. You child’s “network” is not large enough to promote enough sales. That’s where the parents step in.

The race is on to be the first at work to bring in the order form and spam the inboxes of your colleagues. Even if you get to be the “cookie person” at work, your child has zero exposure to this (perhaps only on delivery of the cookies they may get to see their buyers). Ultimately, you end buying an unnecessary amount of cookie boxes that, after months of gorging and re-gifting, you end up throwing away.

Again, what does this teach our girls? It likely teaches them nothing.

Do you have tactics you’ve used in the Glen Rock area to get your girls to sell more cookies? Have you had different experiences?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

* The views expressed in this post are those of the author based on experience both as a seller of scout-related goods and a parent of goods-selling scouts. Your mileage may vary.

On Friday, March 12, 2010, the Christopher Barron Live Life Foundation will host their first major fundraising event, a Men’s Night Texas Hold ‘Em tournament.  The fundraiser which will be held at St. Catherine’s Church Community Hall in Glen Rock will start at 8 pm.  All proceeds will benefit the Foundation’s community outreach programs, as well as further its mission.

Tickets cost $100 and include your “buy in” and unlimited food, beer and wine.  Players will compete to win three top prizes which include a Flat Screen TV and four New York Giants tickets with a parking pass to a game in the upcoming season.

The Christopher Barron Live Life Foundation, a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was established in February 2009, in honor of Christopher Barron who died in 2007 from leukemia.  The Foundation’s mission is to instill Christopher’s compassion and zest for life by offering children in underserved communities unique opportunities to live life and pursue interests Christopher of which was most passionate.

With Christopher’s passion for creating comic books in mind, the Foundation has created a comic book writing program and contest which will be lead by professional comic book writers and illustrators.  The Foundation will launch the comic book writing program on January 14 ^th with fifth graders at School 21 in Paterson, NJ. 

For more information about the event or to purchase a ticket, please visit the Foundation website at www.christopherbarronlivelife.org or contact the Co-chairs of the event, Tracy Reed at 201-248-4908 or Mike O’Hagan at 201-248-3809.