Click here to download this recipe (pdf)

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 capsicums (hint: have children each stuff a different colour so they know which one is theirs)
• 2 cups cooked cous cous
• 4-5 dried tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 2 chopped spring onions or 1 diced shallot
• A few torn basil leaves
• 200g fetta cheese, cubed
• Other options: olives, pine nuts, corn, beans, chic peas

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Sauté spring onions and garlic in the oil until translucent. Add the tomatoes, then the cous cous, feta, olives and basil. Cook for 3 minutes. Season to taste.
3. Cut the capsicums in half lengthways and remove seeds and vein.
4. Stuff the capsicums with the couscous and vegetable mixture
5. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes and serve with salad or vegies.

 Try something different

For alternatives, you can stuff the capsicum with other seasonal vegetables or cooked rice instead of couscous.

“It was an easy fundraiser.  It wasn’t as time consuming as most of the others and we had a really good return thanks to the high percentage we earned,” she said.

The committee ordered the herbs and vegies and then mixed them so that each family took home one bag containing some of each.  The families at the kinder sold at least 1 bag each, with some families selling up to 3.  Most of the families at the school were able to sell their bag, too.

Cath says that the fundraiser worked better at the kindergarten due to the high level of parental involvement.  Many of the families at the school have working parents who have limited time.

Healthy food culture

The kinder already has a vegetable garden so the healthy food culture was already in place.  That helped the children understand what they were selling and why.  The herbs and vegies sold really well.

Cath had the chance to present to a class of Grade 3 and 4 kids so she could tell them all about the fundraiser.  “The kids were really into it” she said.   “They asked some excellent questions such as whether the container was recyclable.”

Learnings and advice

Next time they run this fundraiser there are a few things the committee would do differently.

• Time it according to the season and perhaps run it in term 3 so that people can get the maximum harvest from them.
• Definitely speak to the children at the school.  When they are interested and committed, they will encourage their parents to become involved.
• Campaign for working parents to sell the product in their workplace.

Cath says that the fundraiser was very simple to manage and took very little time to manage.  She said that the products sold themselves.  In particular, the herbs were great to buy as Christmas gifts.  They were practical and perfect for those hard to buy for people.

Shoalhaven Heads Public School is a small school with 165 children. The school was sick of the same old lamington drives or chocolate drives and wanted something that would support and raise funds for their Edible Garden Program.

When the committee chose to sell herbs and vegies as well as some of the other products on offer, parents thought it was absolutely fabulous.  The products related really well to the Edible Garden.

Samantha described the fundraiser as simple and without pressure.

The committee knew that it was easy to either return unsold items or to order more.  In the end there were very few returns.

In particular, the committee loved the high percentage paid to them, earning $2500 for their Edible Garden program.

The children loved the idea that they were making money to help their garden and also helping the kids at the Happy School in Cambodia.  It got them excited and really involved in the process.

“Working with Living Fundraisers was easy because of the wonderful and really personal service,”  Samantha said, and that the school was “Very impressed with the whole experience.”

Students are encouraged to look beyond their own backyards and see what they can contribute that will make a difference.

St. Pius chose our Christmas cards for their fundraiser.  Ministry Coordinator, Amanda, managed the event.

How they ran their drive

The school has 48 year 12 students going over to Vietnam in June 2012 so each student took cards to sell. In addition, Amanda invited any other students in the school to collect a bag in their lunch time to sell over a two week period. This is where the most success came.

Amanda said that the fundraiser worked very well for the school.  “Other than the logistics of keeping track of students, money and cards with over 1000 kids in our school, it was easy!”

She intends to run the fundraiser again in the future but says that next time they will start earlier in the year.  She thinks that the results would have been even better if they hadn’t begun so close to Christmas.

“The product sells itself.” Amanda said.  “We were happy with the profit and will look to expand next time.”

Feedback and purpose

The feedback was very positive.  Students enjoyed it as it was novel for them and it fell within the sustainability goals for the school so staff and parents were impressed.

The most important part, though, was that the school was able to make a great profit.

The funds raised will assist with the creation of a road and electricity delivery to a small community in North Vietnam.  What this will bring is immeasurable.

We are very proud to have been able to support St. Pius X in such a worthwhile event.

Click here to download a PDF of instructions.

You’ll need:

What to do:

1. Gather leaves, sticks, flowers and seeds from the garden or the park. Ones on the ground work best for gluing and are kinder to the trees

2. Paint one side of a leaf and then press the painted side onto a piece of paper. Use different leaves and coloured paints to cover the paper with different leaf shapes, patterns and sizes

3. Glue some of the different things you collected onto the paper to create a collage.

Small groups often have a difficult time raising funds.  The task falls to the same people and the same families every time because there is no other option.

Choosing a fundraiser that it a little different is a great way to get people excited so that they tackle the job with enthusiasm.

The Sunraysia Irish and Friends Association decided to run a fundraiser using our Christmas cards.

“People loved them,” said organiser Kym Bennett.  “The cards were just gorgeous.”

How they ran the drive

The group has a relaxed approach to fundraising, not wanting to put pressure on such a small group of families especially towards the end of the year when Christmas is looming.  That worked out well because, although the cards didn’t all sell at the time, profits are still coming in now as the cards just keep on selling.

Kym says that next time they will be more proactive with sales, setting up a stall or display table at the dance class so parents and friends can see the cards and feel their quality.

Kym says “For the amount of people we had helping in the fundraiser, we did very well and raised a nice profit.  We will finish selling the cards off at the end of this year and earn even more.”

The group loved the idea of the Christmas cards and it was a new concept for the area which made it more fun than the fundraisers they’d had in the past.

This is the perfect snack, lunch or dinner during the school holidays, especially when they have friends over. 

Have a variety of ingredients for them to experiment with. Favourites include corn, basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, capsicum and sliced meats. It only takes about 15 minutes and is a great activity to get children involved in cooking.

Ingredients

• 1 pita bread per person
  (wholemeal tastes the same for a healthier option)
• Tomato paste
• Mozzarella cheese
• Tomatoes, (small or large)
• Basil

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C
2. Spread the tomato paste over the pita bread
3. Add tomatoes and basil
4. Sprinkle grated cheese on top
5. Cook until crisp and brown

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Half a butternut pumpkin
• Small can of baby beetroots, halved
• 400 grams chickpeas (canned is easiest)
• Handful of rocket
• Cherry tomatoes, halved

Easy dressing

• 2 lemons (juiced)
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tbs olive oil

Method

1. Cut the pumpkin in to cubes about 2cm x 2cm
2. Coat with olive oil and roast until brown and soft, set aside and allow to cool.
3. Combine chickpeas, tomatoes, rocket, baby beetroots, and pumpkin
4. Toss through dressing and serve

Try something different

This salad is a great ‘basic’. For variety and flavour, try adding:

• Other vegies, eg: roasted potato, carrot, zucchini
• Meats, eg: grilled chicken strips, tuna
• Spices when roasting the vegies, eg: Moroccan, Indian or Italian.

With a big school it can be hard to get family involvement especially if you are running the same old events like chocolate drives.  Louise, a parent at the school and the fundraising coordinator,  believes that families are sick of having to try to sell chocolates to their friends and families, especially when other schools are trying to sell something similar.

The school chose the herbs and vegies for their fundraiser because it was different to the regular offerings, and one they knew families would be interested in.  They ordered 380 kits–one for every family.

Louise managed the fundraiser with the help of her committee and the office staff.  She tracked each kit and ticked them off as the kit or the money was returned to the school.  She says that it was one of the easiest fundraisers to manage despite the numbers.

The best thing about the fundraiser is that it raised the funds quickly.  The process was simple and the 40% profit was exactly what they needed to boost the bank balance for the P&F Committee.

Louise said that the profits might have even been more than the $6500 that they raised but for the holidays which interfered with the process.  Some families forgot to sell the kits so they were returned.  Just imagine how much they might have raised otherwise!

Louise recommends following up late returns with a phone call.  She said that it brings a much better response than she got from sending home reminder notes with the children.

Running this fundraiser was much easier because the families were more interested and willing to be involved.  The process was smooth and the return was excellent.

Louise and the committee hope to run this fundraiser again to help purchase specific pieces of equipment for the school.

Keep those kits coming!

A child care centre in a regional area it isn’t just a child care centre; it’s a community centre.  Everyone gets involved and that’s what makes it exciting.

When Jason and the committee decided to raise funds for the centre using the Living Fundraiser vegie growing kits, they knew they were onto a good thing.  The choice fitted well with the NSW Health program “Munch and Move” which encourages kids to eat well.  It also fitted their intention to raise funds in a way that involved the kids in a learning activity.

The first order was for 40 vegie kits but when parents saw the brochures, they also wanted herb kits so the centre placed a second order.

Parents took the kits and brochures to work and sold so many that Jason had to re-order 3 more times just to keep up.

The most exciting for Jason was the way the fundraiser let the learning build out of it.

When the kids saw their parents getting involved, they followed and it spread like a movement throughout the area.  Some of the herbs and vegies were planted at the centre and the children checked them every day and learnt to water and tend them.  As the plants grew, the kids would proudly take their parents and grandparents to visit the garden and see how well it was doing.

The fundraiser was a double bonus.  Not only did it raise funds for the centre, it provided food for the kids to eat, and it was food that they had grown themselves.

Jason says that this was one of the simpler fundraisers they had ever run and the 40% return was amazing.  There was very little work involved because all he had to do was to order according to demand.  The parents were pleased to be running a fundraiser that was healthy and educational.

Jason’s tips

For anyone considering running this fundraiser, especially in a regional area, Jason recommends:

• Get staff involved before the kits arrive
• Get the support of local businesses even if only to have the brochures on their counters
• Choose the right time of year so the plants grow to their best
• Have a clear start and finish date
• Encourage the kids to show off their gardens and share recipes

He also says that you must be ready to roll as soon as the kits arrive because once they start selling, people will want more.

Overall, the fundraiser was simple with great profit for the centre and one that everyone chose to be involved in.  It benefited the kids and it benefited the centre and that was a great thing for the community.  They plan on running this fundraiser again.