Jaden's Fundraiser

Jaden:  Mom?  Can I ask you a favor?
Me:  Sure. What's up?
Jaden:  So, can you make a bunch of cookies and then freeze them for me and Jackson to sell outside our house?
Me:  For what? (I'm so sure he's wanting to buy some new expensive Lego set)
Jaden:  We were thinking we could sell cookies and then give you some money to pay you back for the supplies, and then give the rest to some poor people, and the orphanages, and maybe to the sick kids at the Primary Hospital?
Me:  (Shocked) Um... yeah!  Sure, I can do that. (How can you say no to that?)
Jaden:  Really?  Thank you!!

Thus began "The Neighborhood Cookie and Otter Pop sale for the Primary Children's Hospital."  I had to try and shift their focus a little because I wasn't sure I wanted them just handing out money in the streets of downtown SLC, and there's not really any orphanages these days, so they agreed to keep it just for Primary Children's.

The kids chose a date, planned out what to sell and for how much, and then put it into a flyer.

 

I tried REALLY HARD not to interfere with their plans or ideas.  I wanted them to do things exactly how they wanted... for the most part.  I bit my tongue with the spelling, the grammar and the alignment of their flyer.  It was how they wanted it.  I did however, talk them down from selling cookies for $5 each. Haha!  And in case you were wondering about the "frozen" cookies, they said that it was hot outside, and so people would want their cookie frozen. 

Jaden and Jackson recruited Kaleb and another friend, Kisaac, to help out. They copied 200 little flyers and cut them out to tape on everyone's door in the neighborhood.  They also made bigger ones for the mailboxes, and more signs to hang on the back of their bikes.

These kids were so motivated.  I asked Jaden if he wanted me to put anything about it on the Ward Facebook page, and he was like, "Great idea, Mom!"

Two days before the big event, Jaden, Kaleb and Jackson piled into the van to go deliver their flyers.  This was one of my proud moments as a mom.  It was so stinkin' hot, and these kids had like 200 hundred houses to go to.  They were walking up and down the streets, while Maria (Jackson's mom) and I kept an eye on them in the nice air-conditioned car.  I drove while she put tape on the flyers. 

After 5 or 6 streets only my boys were the only ones left actually doing the work.  Their faces were red, and sweaty, they were getting sunburned, and they were tired.  Thank goodness I had a bunch of bottled water in the trunk.  They would come to the car for a gulp or to just pour it on their heads.  I could see how hard this was getting, so I told them that they've probably done 100.  And that 100 was great!  They didn't need to do the rest.  But they just kept saying, "No. It's okay.  We can do this." 

After about 150 houses, Jaden started to get mad, and said, "Jackson, you need to get back out here!"  But he just said, "No.  It's too hot.  I'm done."  So then Maria went out and did some too.  Again, I told them they didn't need to finish, but Kaleb and Jaden just kept on going.  Kaleb!  My skinny little 5 year-old, Kaleb was out sweatin' in the heat, not quitting!  This was one of those moments, where I realized what hard workers my boys can be.  I started to wonder where they got it from, because given the chance to quit, I know, I would have taken it!  Thank goodness they have a lot of their father in them.

When there was one street of about 6 houses left, I talked Jackson into doing them, and my boys climbed into the car and just collapsed.  I was kind of feeling like a bad mother for not forcing them to stop.  But then as soon as we got home, Jaden came up behind me and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for taking them out to do this.  Again, I was shocked.  All I did was cruise around the neighborhood in my air-conditioned van, while watching my poor kids try not to die from heat exhaustion! And he was thanking ME?!

The next day was Sunday, the day before the big sale.  We spent a few hours baking big Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Only 6 on a pan.

The kids also sold Mint Oreos, 3 for a dollar.

The kids pre-bagged the oreos.  We also filled the freezer with Otter Pops, and Maria and Jackson were at their house making the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Monday was the big day.  They hung their signs and set up their table.  They used a fisher price cash register to collect the money, and they had 2 big ice chest full of ice, otter pops and a few piles of cookies.  More neighborhood kids showed up to help.  They were so excited.  The hardest part was the waiting.  They would get so antsy, they wanted to know if they could start knocking doors.  I told them their advertisement was great, and they just needed to be more patient.

Whenever a person showed up, they would yell, "It's a customer!  It's a customer!"  After the transaction, they would say, "Thank you for your donation to the Primary Children's Hospital!"

Grandma and Grandpa came to support the boys too.  Not only did they leave a donation of over twice their price, they had also given Jaden a little seed money to get started with the supplies.  They're so great!

During the slow times, Jaden started giving away the cookies to his friends for helping.  I told him he needed to wait till we closed because we didn't want to run out.  I told him to just give his friend otter pops for now.

About an hour later I caught them all eating cookies again.  When I asked what was going on, they all pointed to Jaden.  Jaden said, "What? They did a dare!  I had to!"

Some families would actually send one of their kids to come and buy treats for the whole family.  That was nice.  And after a few hours of open business, the boys became restless, and wanted to ride their bikes around the neighborhood so they could "Spread the word," or "Spread the truth!"  Haha!  And they did.  I couldn't stop them.  They rode around yelling, and also knocking doors.  Some people even told them they would buy, if the kids would deliver.  After the first delivery, they got the idea to offer their delivery services to everyone.  My poor neighbors!

So while they were gathering  orders to get ready to deliver, Charles asked one of the boys if they wanted a grocery bag to carry everything in.  Then he told the boy, "Make sure you charge an extra 50 cents for the bag, and 2 dollars for the delivery!"  Haha!

One of our new neighbors, came out with his family and was messing with the kids.  It was funny!  He would try to haggle with them.  Then he told them that what really got him to come out was their Facebook marketing strategy. 

Since the sale went till 8 at night, we decided these kids needed to have dinner so we went and got a bunch of pizzas and crazy bread.  The kids were so surprised and excited.

The kids had a blast playing together... not like they don't do it everyday anyway...  Towards the end, they decided to slash their prices.  Cookies for a quarter!  Jaren Rodeback (age 11?) came and got a few.  Then he came back later for more.  Charles saw him walking away and asked him, "So did they cut you a sweet deal?"  He said, "No.  They raised their prices back up."  Haha!  So I guess I don't know what really went on behind the cash register.  But I didn't care. This was THEIR thing.

It was really fun to see how awesome and supportive our ward and neighbors are.  We also met new faces, and had fun chatting.

When it was over, there really wasn't that many cookies left.  Everyone got one and was happy.

Then everyone wanted to know how much they made.  Their grand total was $167.  Not bad considering everything they sold was either 50 cents or a dollar.

I'm so proud of these kids.  We're still trying to figure out the best way to give the money so that it will be the most meaningful to these kids.  Apparently you can't just walk into the Hospital with a jar of money and hand it to them.  They want you to do it online.  But we're looking into at least touring the hospital so they can have a better idea of the good that they did.

Jackson and Jaden: the minds behind this whole thing

I'm one proud Momma. :)