I may not take Econ, and I’m not a Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg enthusiast, but it doesn’t take a finance bro to tell you that the Parents Weekend club fair was an entrepreneurial triumph. Some 20 clubs, sports teams, and other student associations set up their signature tables that weekend, selling an assortment of goods and soliciting donations. I sent out a poll to participating clubs, and among the eight that responded alone, there was a total of nearly $5,500 in profits, most of which went directly to charity funds of different topical organizations like UNICEF and the USO, and some of which will be used for on-campus club events and publications. Word on the street is that Taft students did something remarkable this year, with many clubs surpassing their goals by a considerable margin and a few raising historically surprising sums of money.
Now, one might argue that this year’s parents must just have been more generous, but even if that were the case, it takes considerable quickness of wit to even convince passersby to stop their comfortable pilgrimage to the warmth of Main Building to buy or donate. The Animal Rescue Fund’s “It’s so cold out, wouldn’t you like a hot cider?” really persuaded me, especially combined with the story about the poor animals awaiting resources at the shelter. If you’re an Upper Mid learning the rhetoric unit in English class, you’ll likely know what I mean when I say this was an impressive appeal to ethos, logos, and, most notably, pathos. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for fall-themed beverages, but aren’t we all?
I’ll stop explicating, though, and let the data speak for itself:
The Animal Rescue Foundation’s (ARF) mission is to raise awareness about animal abuse and neglect and thereby help abused and neglected pets. They raised $200 to be donated towards resolving the recent animal hoarding situation in Watertown. This story made local news a month ago when the police seized 50 cats and dogs from a private home. Since then, the Watertown Animal Shelter has been receiving monetary support from the Taft community.
The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Team raised $864 for their Dig Pink game, a nationwide fundraising event that raises awareness about breast cancer. All their proceeds went to the American Cancer Society, and were generated by selling t-shirts, raffle tickets, and cookies at their table and at their game the day before.
Penny’s Flight at Taft made a total of $2,000 selling themed hats, Dri-Fit t-shirts, Roller Rabbit pajamas, phone wallets, LL Bean tote bags, sweatshirts, and giving out wristbands and stickers. This amount will fund research for neurofibromatosis type 1(NF1), a genetic condition that causes macules on the skin and tumors on nerve tissue, and one of the most underfunded and most common genetic disorders in the nation.
The Photography Club sold photo prints taken by its members at a price of “pay what you can,” and was ultimately able to write a check of $265 to Connecticut Foodshare, the food bank network of CT. As a club, they promote a passion for artistic photography around campus and serve the community while they do it!
Red Ink, Taft’s literary magazine that showcases student creative endeavors, raised $600 through donations. They distributed copies of last year’s spring edition and gave out various home-baked goods and bookmarks to each person who made a donation. The money they raised will be going towards funding future club events and projects.
The Taft Sports Psychology Club raised over $200 through their Halloween-themed donut and baked goods sale. They reported that their biggest hit was the raffled Munchkin Monster Bucket, which was won by a very enthusiastic younger sibling of a Taft student. They plan to use the funds to help compensate their mental performance guest speakers who will share their expertise with Taft athletes.
The UNICEF club made $490 selling handmade, crocheted stuffed animals and merchandise t-shirts, for which they prepaid and which they will be delivering to their customers. The proceeds were donated to the general UNICEF fund. They also held a free interactive activity at our table in which people wrote supportive notes to children, which will be sent to an organization in Waterbury.
For the Veterans Awareness Fund of Taft (VAFT), this past Parents Weekend saw one of the most successful sales in their club’s history, as they raised about $800 through parent and student donations and purchases/pre-orders of club merchandise. The proceeds were donated to the United Service Organizations (USO) and K9s for Warriors.
Here’s a visual representation of the money raised by this cohort of clubs:
Congratulations to the organizers and leaders of these clubs!
