Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate Fundraising’

Time to Give Up Chocolate Fundraising?

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

As a coach of the school team or the local team, you may need funds to secure your team’s dream entry into a national series. Such funds are generally arranged for through fundraisers where the children sell snacks to their friends and other children of the locality. A part of the sales proceeds pays for the snacks themselves while the rest can fund your endeavor and make it a reality. In the past, chocolates used to be a safe choice for fundraisers as children love chocolates and hence making a generous profit out of chocolate fundraisers was quite simple. However, the situation has changed now.
Recent studies have shown a very concerning rise in the number of juvenile cases of diseases such as Type-2 diabetes. Along with such problems, the number of obese children is also on the rise. Conditions like obesity and diabetes in juveniles can lead to serious health problems. Most of these children will probably suffer from weakened joints and bones, heart conditions and kidney problems as a result of health problems at such a young age. The root cause behind such problems is the lifestyle of these kids. They do not exercise at all but consume food items rich in calories, saturated fats and sugar. Hence, there has been a recent shift towards healthier alternatives when it comes to food, especially for young children.
With health concerns in everybody’s mind, the chocolate fundraiser makes very little sense today. In fact, it will probably end up being more of a detriment than a benefit. Most states in the USA have already banned it through legislation. In fact, the California SB-12 specifies with great detail the type of snacks that are permissible for kids events such as fundraiser. With less than 35% of the calories of permissible food items coming from fats and the specified low sugar content, chocolates definitely do not make the cut.
While chocolate fundraisers were easy to organize and raise money, there are options today which make much more sense while keeping health concerns at bay. California fundraising snacks can be healthy as well as tasty as an alternative to conventional chocolates. Snacks such as fundraising rice krispies treats can be a great choice for any fundraiser today. What’s more, they make great sense from the financial point of view as well. You do not have to pay anything up front. The snacks, arranged in different packets according to prices, will be delivered right to you. On the day of the fundraiser you can ask the children to sell the snacks to their friends. The money they collect can be split in half, one half paying for the snacks themselves and the rest being the funds necessary for your team.
In the present scenario, a healthy fundraiser makes great sense from a legal, financial as well as medical point of view. Thus there is no reason why you should keep a chocolate fundraiser in your mind. Time to bid it goodbye forever and focus on better alternatives!