Fundraising Candy Bars

This morning I walked into our breakroom and came across a box of candy bars, with a note asking people to buy one for a dollar to support a co-worker's daughter's la crosse team.

I was immediately swept back in time, about 20 years or so when we had to sell candy bars as a fundraiser for my high school band. I never put much effort in to it and could never convince my dad to take the candy bars to work, which is how many of my friends made many of the "highest fundraisers" prize list.

So instead I was resigned to walking around our neighborhood selling them door-to-door, or selling them to my own family.

And by my own family I mean me.

I believe that by the last year we were selling these damn candy bars I finally just plunked the box of candy bars in a corner of my bedroom. Whenever I wanted a candy bar I plunked 50 cents into the envelope and took one.

By the time our fundraising timeframe was over I had "sold" half the box and had $30 to turn in. I'll do the math for you: that's 60 candy bars, folks, one a day for every day of the two months of fundraising.

If only I had known then about Team in Training, I would've worked those 60 candy bars back off.

The one take-away I had from this experience was the power of saving just a little bit, every day. Hmmm....if I set aside 50 cents every day for 60 days, I would have 30 dollars! That's a lot to a 16-year-old in 1987. That means I could have:

1. Gone to the movies 5 or 6 times.
2. Bought three pairs of jeans and a pair of shoes at the thrift store at St Vincent de Paul, my favorite store at the time.
3. Rented 10 movies at $2.99 each (including tax)
4. Gotten my blonde streak in my hair re-bleached. (Note, I have naturally BLACK hair)

At least I didn't do what my one friend did. Her mom finally refused to bring the candy bars in to work, and instead of getting prizes for being the top fundraiser, she turned in a half a box of candy bars with an IOU that said, "I owe the band $30."