The Seed carnival started in the 1980s as an alternative to trick-or-treating. It has evolved over the years into a huge community event, attended by current and alumni families, as well as neighbors and other local friends. It’s become a much anticipated first return to the Seed after families leave to move on to other schools. It’s also turned into our major fundraiser of the year.
Although we have occasional smaller sales and our Seed art silent auction in the spring, we concentrate our fundraising to this one big event. Instead of asking children/families to sell candy, wrapping paper, candles, or popcorn, we ask for donations, volunteer hours, and attendance at the carnival. Additionally, we encourage participation in our silent auction, purchasing raffle tickets, and spreading the word about the carnival to others outside the Seed community. Our intention is to consolidate the fundraising part to this single event, so we can place our attention on the children and classrooms the rest of the year, in addition to other events like the Celebration of the Winter Solstice. Volunteer participation is key to the carnival’s success.
In the past several years, we’ve been fortunate to have not only parents volunteering, but also our beloved grandparent population. The volunteering requirement for parents is 10 hours per year. The carnival is one of the best ways to fulfill these hours. We work on the honor system with this request and trust that families will respect it. Our carnival and silent auction organizers, who put in hundreds of hours, are all volunteers.
We know everyone has a full life and busy schedule. No one knows this more than our staff, who will also be present and working hard the night of the carnival. One thing that keeps us going is to remember what the carnival ultimately supports. Preschool scholarships are funded by carnival income. Each classroom receives money for special projects and purchases. The APA also generally earmarks funds to go toward a larger school-wide project, such as our new sign a few years ago, playground equipment, or technology needs. The school is currently in need of new playground equipment for both the toddler and big playground, which will hopefully receive a boost from this year’s carnival.
We look forward to seeing all of you at the carnival on Friday night. Thanks ahead of time to our APA team for putting this wonderful event together. Our silent auction is one of the most impressive we’ve seen in years. Thanks to all of you who donated items to the silent auction, signed up to bake desserts, and invited your friends to attend the carnival. We appreciate those of you who have signed up to volunteer for a shift at the carnival. If you haven’t signed up, you still have time to do so.
We could still use a few extra hands for clean up if you’re looking for a way to get involved…