What Happened to the "Fun" In fundraising?

Fundraising or Begging?

Sorry about the crappy pictures, I didn't want to hold up traffic.

 What are we teaching our kids? I live in a fairly large city, Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis, to me, is like a "mini-metropolitain" type city. The city is big, but not too big . Big and busy enough to have busy, dangerous, and broad intersections. Some in which require stoplight cameras due to the fact that those particular intersections have so many wrecks a month, according to the local police department. I am seeing kids literally begging  for donations for various neighborhood or little league football teams and pep squads in these hectic, crazy intersections. Half of the time I'm not sure they are legit because I do not see any adults around and when I ask the kids about their team or group and what they need money for, they are stumbling and bumbling over their words. (Sounds kind of fishy to me.) This past weekend, driving home from work, I approached this almost always congested intersection in the southern part of the city. Congested, yes, especially on a Saturday afternoon. There were kids, maybe 12-16 of them, boys and girls, maybe between the ages of 5-16,  on all four sides of the intersection, on the sidewalk, in the street, and in the median, with their football helmets, begging for money. Yes, they were begging, soliciting, what have you, the point is, it's wrong, teaches a lazy practice, and is extremely dangerous.  If you are going to get your kids out begging, at least teach them some proper etiquette. They don't explain who they are or what the money is for? How could they have the time, the red light is about to change? "Hey, ma'am, would you like to donate?" said this one kid, stepping into the street, leaning over into my rolled down passenger car window. "Donate for what," I asked. He names a football team I've never heard of (it's a little league, so I am not familiar with many of the teams), no name on his Jersey shirt, just  a helmet. Make a believer out of me. I asked him, 'where is your sponsor or coach?' Of course he wasn't in the street playing "dodge cars" risking his life with those children. He was posted up in his air conditioned car, maybe 100 ft away in a fast food restaurant parking lot. The kids had noone watching them, noone directing them, no guidance whatsoever.

On top of that, there was a police car at a gas station in a nearby parking lot. (Don't ask me what they were doing. You would think they would have gotten the children off the street.)

Where is the "fun" in that fundraising? Ducking and dodging cars and trucks, trying to get as much money you can before the light turns green. That's not fun at all. What wrong with the car washes, bake sales, candy sales, etc.? We could teach our kids to be creative. Have a karaoke party or a pajama party. Properly managed and supervised, these ideas could be good ways to raise money. A fish fry or barbeque plate sales are other good examples of fundraising. Gather your team up and cut some lawns, trim some bushes, paint some houses, these are good sources for funding as well. Let your community know you want to help the neighborhood look good as well as raise money for your team. Host a health walk or run. Let your community know the importance of excersie and diet. Your team would be relaying an important message as well raising funds for their group. These ideas and other fundraising ideas are better than teaching the children to beg. Proper fundraising is not only profitable, but it will help the participants to understand purpose of hard work and to help them to become more productive citizens in the future.

For more fundraising ideas please check out my article: No Soliciting:Fun Fundraising Ideas

Please check out our store: J Simone's Online Designer Boutique for our latest sales!

Father's Day Is Coming...

My father died when I was 18 years old. I remembered the phone call vividly. It was a few days before my graduation from high school. I was expecting the caller to say, 'we are on our way down to Memphis for your graduation.' Instead it was a call to let me know that my father had passed. It seemed like only a couple months prior, my father was calling me to inform me of his illness. He was 43 years young. My father, a mechanic in the United States Army Reserve, died from complications due to lung cancer. It was totally unexpected. Even though my mom and dad had been separated for years, I was still shocked and saddened by his passing.

  To this day, I wish my father was still around. He would be glad to know that he has two wonderful grandchildren. When I found out I was pregnant with my son five years ago, I instanly knew what his name would be. I named my son Benjamin after my father.

 You should appreciate the fathers and the father figures that you may have in your life. You never know when God will call and the time comes for them to go home. Women, appreciate the good fathers or "baby's daddies" that are taking care of their children. Just because you all are broken up, he has moved on, and started a new relationship doesn't mean he loves your children any less. You two may not be together anymore, but work together as civilized adults for your children. Tell him, "Thank you for being there."

    Some of you may not have money for father's day gifts. Show that father, that brother, that husband, or that best friend your appreciation by cooking him dinner, buying a greeting card, writing a poem, sitting down and watching the games with him, taking a walk with him, or by taking him to church. Tell him you love him! It is the little significant things that counts and matters the most.

The Good Samaritan???

A good samaritan, a considerate human being, a good citizen, which one are you? All or none? Some of the time? Most of the time? Ok, how about this: Have you ever pulled up to the bank teller machine only to see the person before you did not completely close out their transaction? "Would you like to continue? 'Yes, or No?'" Would you hit the 'yes' button or would you cancel the transaction and start your own transaction with your own bank card? You are on the Interstate and the sign reads,
"Construction Ahead , merge left, 2 miles... 1 mile... 1/2 mile... 3/4 mile...2 inches. " You merged left back at the 1/2 mile mark, but the "jackwad" in the souped up Camero wants to ride the lane out to the very very end, if not, he is going run off the road. Do you let him over or punch the gas? Get in where you fit it. You go to your local Starbucks, decide that you want one of those nice $20.00 coffee mugs. Over the counter, you hand the barista the coffee mug you would like to purchase. While doing that, at the same time ask for your daily Grande Skinny Caramel Macchiato. "That would be $5.60," says the nice, cheery barista. Would you say, "I am purchasing the mug as well," or, in your mind say, "Free cup for me," and hand your 5.60 cash or debit card to the barista. You are coming out of your job's parking garage, walking towards the elevator. "Wow, is that a hundred dollar bill on the ground?" You pick it up. Breakfast for you and your buddies, or do you turn the money in to security, lost and found, whatever? That scenario about the lost money did happened to me today.
 I lost some money in our parking garage. I was so distraught. I coudn't find it. I just knew I would never see it again. I wanted to be optimistic, but I know times are hard and someone thought it was their lucky day. I could not think, I could not work, I could not function. Man, I needed that money! A couple of my colleagues helped me search for my cash. (Thanks Jess and Ty!)We checked with security, rechecked my car and under the neighboring cars, and retraced my steps, twice!  Another colleague, who saw I was clearly bothered, gave some encouraging words, very optimisitc. Another, who is always offering up spiritual inspirations to others, advised me to put a message on our bullentin board. Good thinking. I sent a message, "Lost my money somewhere in between the parking garage and the elevators. Please, please contactme if you find it. I REALLY REALLY need my money." Well, I should have checked the board beford I posted my message because 30 minutes prior someone had already posted message, "Money found in Parking Garage X. Tell me how much it was and I will return it to you. Call: yadda yadda at yadda yadda number."
 I called and spoke with the woman. It was my money she had found. The woman even made it a point to contact the human resources department to report it. YAY!  Elated and shocked at the same time. There are still some good people in this crazy world. My colleague gave all praises to Mighty God and I did the same. Lord, knows I needed that money. When I met the woman, whom I later found to be a nurse, I gave her the heartiest of hugs.  I offered her breakfast, she politely declined. My mood did a total 360 and the rest of my day went very well. The feeling I received behind that was wonderment!(one of my favorite words from 10th grade English. Thanks, Mrs. Poole). Has it become that rare these days that you find that good citizen, that self considerate being, that good samaritian. Besides the occasional mild case of road rage, hence the question about the jackwad,  I do consider myself very considerate. When I see something being done wrong, that's illegal, I do occasionally anonymously call the non-emergency police number. (It is stored in my phone) I have actually experienced the teller incident on several occassions, where someone is rushing, or not paying attention, pulls away from the teller machine without having closed out their transaction. It's not worth it to go into someone's bank account even if they are negligent. The Starbucks incident, I over heard someone talking about it one day. We all know what's right. I do not want to be judgemental. (However, those coffee mugs are expensive, but the Skinny Caramel Macchiatos are the BOMB! I should invest in Starbucks). 

They grow up too fast... to my Phoebe E'dele.

It seems like only yesteday I found out I was pregnant and now you are almost 7 months old. I must admit, when I found out I was pregnant back in March 2010, I was not at all happy. I cried for three or four days. I was in the middle of planning my wedding when I found out and I was disappointed. The only thing I could think about was that I did not want to be waddling down the aisle. It reminds me too much of Miss Sophia marrying Harpo in, "The Color Purple." I could imagined my mom and my sister saying, "Big though!" (You got to see the movie or read the book, its one of my favs.)It was the end of March and the wedding was originally planned for August, I was already 8 weeks. We moved the wedding up to May. You came late in the fall on October 25. I couldn't believe I was having a baby girl. Benjamin, my son now 5, was excited to finally have someone to play with. Our family and friends blessed us with so many gifts, prayers, and support. Today, I look at you now no longer disappointed. I suppose things happened for a reason. I was blessed with you, my baby girl. I love you so much. I wish you could stay this size forever but now you are almost 7 months wearing 12 month clothing. You are trying to crawl but its more of a scoot. You are finally holding your bottle on your own. You fill our conversations with baby gibberish. Anything that goes in your hand goes in your mouth. You are teething now so we go through a ton of bibs and cloth diapers everyday. The poop, oh, we are not even going there. ;-)  I'm so sorry I sobbed alot when you were inside me. I once read if you are depressed alot during your pregnancy, your baby would be a whinner. That is so not true. You are a very, very happy baby. Now, when I look at you and I'm sad about something, upset about work, whatever, I look at you with those tight eyes and that gummy smile, and my heart melts. You are my angel!

Now, we have all these baby clothes that you can no longer wear. I want to keep them all but, we have no where to put them. Your legs are strong (really strong) you like to kick (and kick hard). I wonder what you will be when you grow up, a swimmer or a female kick boxer, lol. Your lungs, don't get me started. You let us know when you are not happy, but that's ok. You are a princess, our princess, and we want you to stay happy. Hopefully, one day when you are older, you will log on a read through my ramblings. Until that day comes I will be blogging here and there about you and Benjamin, until I can blog no more.

 

(Actual delivery video, and yes, I was crying.)

Please check out my items for sale this week in my EBAY store:



E-BAY: Huge Lot of Baby Girl Clothes (NB-6mo) Approximatley 70 items +

Happy Bidding!

 Also check out other items at: www.vendio.com/stores/jsimones

My First Blog- Do I have to get a part-time job? I'd rather be my own boss

Hello World! Welcome to my first blog!

Are you like me asking yourself, "Do I have to get a part-time job?" We work hard all day, eight hours shifts, five days a week, no overtime, and what for? Just enough money to cover bills and the necessities. We need a part-time job, but we don't want to have to punch in on another's clock. We do not want another boss. We work full-time already and  would love to become our own boss someday, but how will we get there? Some of you are sailing on the same boat as I. Returning to college, have not yet obtained any degree (Over half way there). Along with the hubby or significant other, trying to raise a family and maintain the household. We really do not have the time to go job hunting. This will require some of us to have to take off work from our full-time jobs and burn up our much needed vacation time. What can we do? What will we do? Well, I am going to utilize this Internet until I can do no more. I started with my own website, but that isn't panning out too well. I started my own website only to find out after a few months later that I was spending more money maintaining the site than what I am earning. BUMMER! I started selling things on EBay without opening a store (don't get me wrong, I love EBay) but I spent more money on insertion fees and final value fees than anything else. I cannot give up. I will not give up. I have dropped my paid website in exchange for a new free website with Vendio.com. I have dropped my limits. (My first website was just for pet supplies. Now, I have opened my doors to sell a variety of things). I have started an actual EBay store, which cuts back on insertion fees and picture fees, and also I am utilizing Facebook as a source for advertising. I have become an Amazon.com associate, so I can advertise Amazon.com products on my site, if you buy it, I get some change. I have also joined Commission Junction or http://www.cj.com/, so I am able to make money from advertising other companies and products as well. It's slow, but I am not going to give up.

If you are looking to start a free online store you can check out some of these sources:

Vendio.com

Ecrater.com

Miiduu.com

To all my readers, please bear with me. I am constantly learning about the e-commerce and blogging business DAILY. I could use your help and your feedback. Look for more stories to come.

Check out my online store: www.vendio.com/stores/jsimones I'm adding products daily.
Featured Album is Adele 21. I love Adele, she had a beautiful voice.This album is the BOMB! I named my daughter Phoebe E'dele. after her. I know its not the same spelling but, I had her in my heart when I named my daughter.

On sale at J Simone's this week:
Focus Electrics Milk Shake Maker