Enough With the Fundraisers

When it isn't Girl Scout cookie time, it's the Cub Scouts selling their tins of popcorn outside of banks or supermarkets. When it's not the spring, it's the winter and elementary school kids are selling their wrapping paper, holiday candles and other goods - all in the name of fundraisers. In between all of those seasonal fundraisers, are the anytime ones: new band uniforms, new football uniforms, a home economics class needs new mixing bowls. The list just goes on and on.

Kids end up bringing home forms to their parents letting mom and dad know of the next fundraiser their school has thought up. This translates into the parents having to take these forms to work or call the relatives to have them buy things from their kid so that the kid can win whatever prize or patch is being dangled in their faces.

It's a sad, vicicious cycle that seems to get worse as schools and other extracurricular organizations claim that funding is constantly being cut.

Now, no one here is griping or saying that these organizations are lying about their need for money. It's true, that there is less money to go around for schools and such. The point that is being argued is the point of "selling" cookies or popcorn when everyone knows it's the parents who have to do all the work.

Kids don't go around door-to-door anymore for safety reasons and also laziness (most kids don't want to go from neighbor to neighbor). So, relatives usually end up footing the bill or parents will cheat and put down names of various people on the order form and then end up footing the entire bill.

What's the point? Are we all supposed to laugh and think this is cute when parents are forced to fork over money for a bunch of junk they don't need?

It would be one thing if the fundraisers occurred once a year. The problem is that they don't. When one fundraiser ends, another fundraiser begins and it doesn't stop once you reach high school or even once you've graduated from college.

Once you enter the workforce, you still deal with fundraisers - only at that point, you are on the other side of the fundraiser equation. You become one of the ones forking over money for someone else's kid's school or organization (unless you work for an employer who does not allow solicitation on company property).

It's sad to be complaining over this since in general, these fundraisers are for a good cause. However, it has gone a little out of hand. Most parents, teachers and co-workers would agree on this. It's only the kids who are saying bring on the fundraisers. After all, they're the ones winning the prizes.