1113 Bumpus Bucs
Lindsey shows examples of vendors’ products that could be on sale during the Nov. 2 event. Photos by Kathleen Buccleugh.
With a 2013-2014 fundraising goal of $11,000, R.F. Bumpus Middle School’s Parent Teacher Organization is putting a lot of work into this year’s sole school-wide fundraising event.
The first-ever Bucs Bazaar, named for the school’s mascot, will be held Saturday, Nov. 2, from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on the Bumpus Middle campus at 6055 Fleming Parkway.
Tina Lindsey, vice president of fundraising for the Bumpus PTO, said she and Steffanie McGarity, second VP of fundraising for PTO, met with the school’s administration in the spring to discuss the best approach to this year’s fundraiser.
Last year, Lindsey said, the PTO’s donation drive did not gain the traction the association wanted from its main fundraising event. So this year the PTO and the administration decided to host a day of activities to invite parent, student and neighborhood involvement.
“[The administration is] with seventh- and eighth-graders all year long, and they’re with the parents more than we are, in the sense of they hear what works and doesn’t work more than we do. So we wanted to know what they wanted — something that would be successful,” Lindsey said. “This was a derivative of the meeting of the minds to do this event.”
Lindsey said she hopes a major source of income from the bazaar will be the sale of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Students have two weeks to pre-sell boxes of a dozen doughnuts at $5 each (more than $1 savings over buying the doughnuts in the store), $2.75 of which is direct profit for the PTO’s budget. Students will pick up the doughnut boxes during the Nov. 2 event for distribution.
McGarity’s seventh-grade son, Nicholas, plans to sell a lot of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, “especially to myself,” he said.
To raise the stakes and provide incentives, the three students who sell the highest number of boxes will win an iPad mini, iPod or Beats by Dre earbuds. The prizes were donated, respectively, by Dr. Jeffrey Backus of Backus Orthodontics, Time Machine and AAATIX.
The bazaar will also feature two sporting tournaments. Conference basketball teams will compete in the school’s gymnasiums, and proceeds benefit the school’s athletics program, Lindsey said.
For a $10 entry fee per person, Bumpus students may play single-elimination kickball on teams of up to 10. The winning student team will then play a faculty team headed by Principal Tamala Maddox, Lindsey said.
Nicholas McGarity said he’s most looking forward to the kickball tournament but said he wasn’t sure if a student team could beat a faculty team because “I’ve never seen them play kickball.”
A community garage sale will be held in the parking areas of the school. Also, local vendors selling crafts, housewares and makeup — just to name a few — have rented booths to sell their goods. Lindsey said one female Bumpus student who owns a bow-making business has reserved her booth.
Steffanie McGarity’s husband, Todd, said he usually helps out with PTO events. “I’m sure I’ll be donating my time for (setup),” he said. “[The bazaar has] a big spectrum of stuff. It’s going to be neat.”
Vendors, parents and community members looking for more information or to get involved may contact Steffanie McGarity at supton1@aol.com or Tina Lindsey at tina@lindseyfamily.org.
“We want it to be a community event, not just ‘Hey, send us your money.’” Lindsey said. “We want everyone to be invested in the school,because that makes them ultimately invested in the children’s education.”
