Sunday, February 13, 2011

OMG! Candy Grams for sale!

The idea to take middle schoolers from Dobie and Webb to Explore UT Day appeared quite suddenly, and definitely added a new perspective to our PRP class. For kids, it is a chance to visit the university campus, take part in fun activities, meet current students and professors, and realize that going to college could be a reality. For us, it is a great opportunity to practice our skills and implement the knowledge we get from reading articles on positive new development. And although the idea raised a lot of questions, such as: How much money do we need? Where do we get the money? How do we get the kids excited about the event? Where will we be able to find transportation? etc, we rather enthusiastically started developing a plan of what we need to get done in the next couple of weeks.

The answer to the question of where to get some of the money came to our group while visiting Webb middle school. We decided to sell candy grams at the LBJ School hoping that the student community will support our efforts in raising funds. The Webb kids together with some of the girls from our PRP class made bright posters, we bought candy, construction paper, bags, red cloth for the table - and the next morning the Candy Grams For Sale station was set up! We did a Facebook promotion campaign, inviting our friends and fellow students to 'attend the event', and were hope for a good turnout.

I worked at the table during the first couple of hours, and at first nobody who was in the lobby at the moment seemed to be interested. I blamed the cold weather. Also, many people were in their morning classes. But then... One by one, LBJers started to come up to the table. Some of them knew about the event from the Facebook campaign, others were attracted by our colorful posters. In any case, almost every one of them either bought candy grams (sometimes, 5-6 of them at once) or just donated money for the event. One professor got candy grams for every female faculty member. Another one just bought the candy, but paid much more than he was supposed to.

By the end of the second day we raised 120 dollars. It means that at least that many people (but in reality it will be more) will find a bag of candy in their mailboxes when they come to school on Monday morning. It also means that we have made a very big step to make Explore UT a reality for at least 15 middle schoolers. But also, it means that LBJ School has awesome people who are willing to give their support and efforts to make wonderful things come true.

ps: special thanks and warmest regards to the PRP crew

SKILLS I gained/enhanced from the Candy Grams For Sale event:
  • planning and implementing an event in a very limited timeline
  • networking for promotion
  • social media promotion
  • fundraising
What I brought into the event to help it become a success:


  • creativity
  • organization skills
  • open-mindedness
  • communication skills
  • marketing skills
  • readings on positive youth development
  • ability to dress appropriately to the weather (it was VERY cold in the lobby where the table was set up)

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