Our county has a program around Christmas called the Holiday Basket program. It is run by our county social services. Anyone in need in the county can apply. Our specific community is then given the names of families from our community that have applied. They set a limit of $25 per child in a family and buy them a new christmas gift. The parents of the family are given a food basket with at least enough food for their Christmas dinner. Our PTO has not yet been involved with this program, but I would like to bring it up at our next meeting. I think it would be a good outreach.
As a PTA we are always in the position of people asking for money. What we can do is have PTA offer to organize an event but not have the money going through our books. Money donations are not always necessary just the where with all to raise it. If your group really wants to do something, organize a dance a donate all the proceeds (after your expenses) Just an idea.
We had a situation this year where we were asked to donate to a foundation to support research of a disease a student has. As parents we wanted to help, but as board members we know that the money raised is for the use of our school. We looked to our bylaws and mission statement which guided us well. we did however add to our budget a sunshine fund (500.00) which will be used to send balloons or flowers to students who are hospitalized or are in a difficult situation.
This may sound bad but I hope it does not. This subject of help has been brought up in different groups that I am involved in and I always state that I can not judge who may or may not need help over other families that we are involved in. If we make a donation, we make it to a food pantry or the like and feel that they are the best judge of who is in need. They know where it comes from so they can direct it better than I can. I hope this makes sence to you.
Be careful! Juliedio, I did exactly what you did. The problem I ran into was the fact that children notice their old clothes on others. I helped through our social worker so I did not know who it was. (on purpose) Well, The children started to notice and I now know who the needy family is. Now, we are adding an additional amount to our "Breakfast with Santa" to help support all of the needy family's in our community. The money will then go to the social worker and she can do what she wishes and we will never know. We also have a "needy" fund for the principal to use to help sustain needy children within the school(fun lunchs, field trips, summer school, etc.) Good Luck!
This is the first year that we have instituted a policy regarding our needy families. We have budgeted $150 to be spent on needy families. It is no where near enough, but it is a start. When we established this, we decided that the school nurse would be the one to deem where the money would be best spent. In our school, she is the one who is made aware of a needy child or family. She keeps the family name confidential and does not pass this on to anyone. Last week, she called me to say she was aware of a single mother of 5 who was worried that her children wouldn't be warm enough at night. She wondered if we could use our money for comforters for this family. We purchased 5 comforters from Kmart and our nurse was absolutely thrilled. And very thankful. She also gave me a list of the childrens sizes and what kind of clothing they need too. I said I would ask our PTO board moms to check their closets and we will put together some bags for her. I wish we could do more for more families...We have a large population of needy families in our district. However, we made a difference for one family and hopefully , they pay it forward...We are thinking of adding more $ to that budget item already.
