Fundraiser for boy with cancer

[mommaof3]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has been through this before and has any ideas. There is a little boy just shy of his first birthday and he has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma. We would like to help out his family raise money for his care. Never planned a benefit dinner before. Thinking of spaghetti and sauce, that should be pretty easy to get a good sale on it with coupons. Anyone have any tips or tricks for advertising, organizing etc?

[bethanyam]

We just did a benefit for my BIL who got hit with a falling tree. We went around to businesses and asked for donations for items big or small... to auction/raffle/ect. Some grocery stores you might ask for food donations....make a list of items you will need in advance, so that if they offer you can tell exactly what you need right then.

We did a cake walk....had tons of people donate cakes....most people if they couldn't afford anything else they would make a cake, which we appreciated very much.

Call your local radio station/cable station/newspaper sometimes they will advertise the event for free.

For my nephew who had many health problems when born we sat out donation jars with his picture and story at local businesses...we got A LOT of change, but it does add up.

I hope that this helps. GOod luck.

[2boysmom]

Our family and friends had a benefit for my son a couple years ago. He was born with a rare liver disease and needed a liver transplant. I know it was alot of work for them and it took 4 months to plan and gather stuff.
They made it a chili supper and got local grocery stores to donate all the food. It was split up so one store wasnt hit with all of it ie- all the beans from one store, all the tomatoes from another or some stores did a few items. They went to all the restaurants and asked for donations for a silent auction and also raffle prizes. most of them gave gift cards. they went to alot of smaller specialty shops and they made up a basket for the silent auction ie a chocolate store made a wonderful bakset of goodies. everyone involved just branched out and ask anyone they knew with a business for a donation. We were very lucky and some people had some connections to the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs so we got autographed stuff to auction off. We also had some connections to some autographed Nascar stuff. We charged 5.00 per head to get in and had about 500 people attend. It was a very successfull fundraiser but it did take a long time to plan and alot of people helping. I'm sure it can be done on a smaller scale and still be helpful to the family.
Let me know if you want to know anymore details.

[mommaof3]

Thanks for two great responses! The want to plan this in 3 weeks, I think that is not enough time personally, given the time and effort needed. I already order q's for sauce and pasta today, so if it's not needed we'll be stocked up for a long time anyway, can always use it. Got some phone calls to make, need to make up a list of local stores ASAP.

[bethanyam]

It can be done in that length of time with a lot of hard work...we did my BIL's in about 2 weeks. A friend started planning it, and the family jumped in to help. Just to give you a $ amount....his benefit was this past Saturday and at last count they had raised $7200. Not sure exactly what you are looking to raise, but I've found that people donate more when kids are involved.
1st thing is to decide where you are going to have it and see if that place has a opening....In my opinion, I would get it done in the next few weeks or I would wait till January....in my area there is not a lot of success in raising money near the Holidays because of so many places asking for donations....but that's just my opinion.

[Sylvia]

Another thing you can do is hit up the taverns and bars in the area. Drunk people do donate especially when it's a little cutie in need.

[bethanyam]

Originally Posted by Sylvia

Another thing you can do is hit up the taverns and bars in the area. Drunk people do donate especially when it's a little cutie in need.

LOL that is very true, when we sat out jars raising money, the ones in the bars and liquor stores were the ones that were always the fullest.

[granviewgran]

spahgetti feeds are popular

so are bake sales

ingredients for both can be bought with coupons....especially pasta, sauce, refrigerated cookie dough...

[Dagian]

My family is a "Biker" family so I know Bikers are not always as "scary" as they seem. You could talk to Local Harley shops and set out a donation can or see if they would be willing to do a charity ride. That is where they pay to ride from one location to another and at the end there is a party. The ride money goes to the charity. My little boy is a year and a half----I would be devastated if some doctor told me that. Good Luck.

[LovinMyCoupons]

CAR WASHES are easy and simple. If you can get the local TV channel to come out & or the local radio station to announce it. I am sure it will be a money maker.

It seems that when you say you will wash a car for a "donation" you will get more money than say having a flat fee.

This is a sad story- my son is 19months and I would be devistated! Prayers to him and his whole family.