Fundraising
The Peralta Parent Teacher Group (PPTG) organizes events that build relationships, maintain our facilities, and raise money to support our many programs: music, sports, the library, mental health counseling, kindergarten aides, and others.
Some of our biggest fundraisers are a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. They include high-profile events like the Walkathon, the auction, the quilt raffle and Peralta in Bloom. Our largest income generator is the fall Peralta Fund, when every family is asked to contribute at a level they feel comfortable with.
Equally important are the passive fundraisers — also called hidden treasures because they make money from things you are already doing – or are throwing away. These fall into two main categories: Shopping-for-a-cause programs like eScrip, in which merchants donate a percentage of your purchases, and trash-to-treasures programs like Box Tops for education. Kids love to find hidden treasures on their cereal boxes! Visit the Hidden Treasures News page for the latest promotions.
PERALTA FUND (September)
The Peralta Fund is our first and most important fundraiser of the year.
Every family is asked to make a monetary donation — large or small — to support
the school. Past donations range from $10 or less to $100 monthly.
The Peralta
Fund kicks off on the first day of school, and 100% participation is our goal.
Families are encouraged to consider automatic monthly contributions.
WALKATHON (October)
In the Peralta Walkathon, children collect sponsorships for miles walked. On Sunday, October 18th, 2009, hundreds of kids will put on their walking shoes and trek around the blocks surrounding Peralta. Almost all participants walk at lease 10 laps. Some of the older children will go as far as 20 laps (8 miles). Each lap earns a walker a small prize (an incentive), and many students earn the distinction of “Superwalkers.” A late afternoon barbeque and bakesale on campus makes the Walkathon a wonderful way to get exercise, meet other families and raise money.
PERALTA AUCTION (February)
The Peralta Auction is a silent and live auction where bidders win gift certificates to cultural events, restaurants, and camps; services and classes; as well as art, jewelry and Peralta community crafts. The Auction is scheduled for Saturday, March 6, 2010. This is both a fundraiser and social event! Lots of help will be needed to make it a success.
QUILT RAFFLE (April)
Every year, Ellen Oppenheimer, textile artist and artist-in-residence at Peralta works with students in all grades to make a one-of-a-kind quilt. All families are asked to help sell booklets of tickets to raise money for our arts programs. We have had great success setting up a table with the quilt on display at Farmer’s Markets and BART stations, selling hundreds of tickets with little effort. Everyone can help.
PERALTA IN BLOOM, SPRING FESTIVAL AT PERALTA (May)
The “Peralta in Bloom” spring festival is a celebration of our school and the larger community. On Saturday May 8, 2010, Peralta will throw open its doors and party with a wildly popular cakewalk (you need to learn about this!), a near-famous barbecue, a climbing wall, carnival games, live entertainment and cups of Ms. Killebrew’s famous edible cups o’ dirt. This event is all about providing a fantastic day for the kids and neighbors—and it also makes money to support the school. Over a hundred volunteers participate!
Hidden Treasures
Peralta participates in a wide range of programs that earn “free” money for the school. With Peralta facing tighter and tighter budgets, there is a big push this year to get everyone involved in these programs.
Why the name Hidden Treasures? These are areas where Peralta can earn cash from items which might be overlooked or thrown away (or recycled). You don’t have to do anything more than register a debit card or rewards card, make a few mouse clicks, or clip some box tops (or having your kids do it). These small actions could bring in thousands of dollars for our school. It is shocking, but once you realize how much we could earn, you might feel the need to spread the word to everyone! Kids love to participate: They can turn in items (box tops, labels, etc) from the programs below to the “treasure” box in the courtyard by the lost and found.
If you would like further details about any of these programs, or if it just is not clicking for you, or if you would like to help maximize these programs at Peralta, please email Deb French.
eScrip and OneCause are the two biggest shopping-for-a-cause programs. It takes just a couple of minutes to register your credit/debit or merchant cards like the Safeway Club card on these p
ro
grams’ secure sites. After that, it’s automatic: A huge number of merchants (Target, Macy’s, Home Depot, Land’s End) will contibute from 1% to 18% of all your purchases to the school. Both these sites have online malls with all kinds of special deals. If you download the programs’ toolbars, you don’t even need to check whether a merchant you are visiting participates. It all happens automatically.
We also participate in: OneSearch, Berkeley Bowl Scrip, Target, Lucky SHARES, GoodSearch.
Trash to Treasures
Box Tops for Education(BTFE) Information:
Clip 10¢ Box Tops coupons from hundreds of products. Click for a complete list. (Avery Office Products – including many back to school items – have been added)
Find those “treasures” for Peralta. And don’t forget to stop by the
Box Top Bakesale at the PPTG Activities & Information Fair – Wednesday, September 2 -
Starting at 6pm
Box Tops for Education site and sign up, you can print coupons to save even more. And earn Peralta five boxtops with each sign up.
Shop Kmart (Buy 5 participating products get 20 boxtops -
Buy 10 participating products get 70 box tops.)
Enter to win the Big Clip – 500,000 box tops.
Enter the Safeway Sweepstakes (code: Education) to win bonus box tops.
Teachers can sign-up at MyClassEssentials.com and get a chance to win $50 & box tops for Peralta.
There are so many opportunities right now to get our boxtops earning rolling. Check out the Box Top site.