North Texas Kids-Giving Day brought to you by CECPTA
We are so excited to bring to you this day of Charity and Entrepreneurship! To help our lovely families as they decide how to participate on this day we have put together a little FAQ to answer the most popular questions we’ve received about Kids-Giving day!
Who can participate?
This day is for any kid who would like to stretch their entrepreneurial muscles and earn some money of their own. This event is not limited to solely CECPTA kids, although we hope that more than a few families of Carrollton Early Childhood PTA will find this venture worthwhile. Anyone can participate by sharing and commenting on social media. We also encourage everyone that feels comfortable to drive out on the big day to show support to these young kids.
What is it?
Kids-Giving Day is the brain-child of our VP, Tara Peckham, and myself. We were discussing one day how our kids love the concept of making their own money. We reminisced about our own experiences as kids running various ‘lemonade stands’, etc. Tara then shared with me how last summer her kids had been asking her for money of their own to donate to a local church. She encouraged them to look at different ways they could earn their own money to donate and together they built and operated a lemonade stand. Afterwards Tara’s kids donated the proceeds they had earned to a local church.
A light-bulb went off in my mind when Tara shared her experience and together we started to entertain the idea of helping the older children of the PTA earn their own money, give back to some worthwhile organizations, and learn many valuable lessons along the way. Thus Kids-Giving day was born: A day in which we can teach our kids to not only to be generous, charitable, compassionate people, but also to foster their entrepreneurial spirits.
When will it be?
We are holding Kids-Giving Day on Saturday, September 12th. Just under 2 weeks away, this event is our big kick-off for North Texas Giving Day on September 17th.
As you will see on our form, the day is broken up into four manageable chunks. It is not expected for your child to run a ‘lemonade stand’ or other business all day. Instead we are encouraging your family to choose 1-2 time periods during which your child’s business will operate.
Where can I host?
Everyone is welcome to host their business in front of their own home. If there is a higher-traffic area you would like to take your business for the day we would highly encourage you speak to the owner of the home or establishment your child wishes to set up.
Remember the ‘Lemonade Stand Bill’ that Governor Abbott signed into law on June 10, 2019? It protects your little one’s lemonade or other non-alcoholic beverage stand on private property or in a public park. https://texascottagefoodlaw.com/lemonade/
HOAs of a residential subdivision also may not adopt or enforce a restrictive covenant that prohibits or regulates, including requiring a permit or fee on your child’s mini business!
Thinking about adding some food options to drive up sales? Just be sure to take a safe food handling course online (less than $10 and 1 hour) and package and label your food!
Where can I find these businesses?
On Wednesday, September 9th we will release our Map of Kids-Giving locations. You will be able to find it via our instagram page, and on our blog. The names of the children putting together these businesses will be withheld to protect their privacy, but you will be able to see the location, business hours, and product/service being provided.
Do you have any tips on how to talk about this with my kid?
As a matter of fact, our VP, Tara Peckham, has put together a list of things to discuss with your child(ren) as they put their plan into place:
1. Discuss what this opportunity means and choose a charitable organization
Kids-Giving Day is a combination of an opportunity for your children to earn their own money with their own skills, and an opportunity for them to give back from their money to something they love.
CECPTA is a great choice for giving back, but we are not the only ones. There are non-killing animal shelters, specific animal rescue programs, educational programs, the Ronald McDonald House, even Shakespeare Dallas and the Ft. Worth Chorale. Talk to your child about what they love, what makes them feel sad, what problems they’ve noticed. Discuss an organization that matches with their interests. Ask them if they would like to help. Then work together to come up with a way to earn money.
2. Brainstorm possible ways your child can earn money.
Encourage your child to think of any needs that your neighbors might have that they could fill. You can also discuss what talents your child possesses, what their interests are, and then factor in their attention span, and experience. Put your heads together and come up with your own game plan. You don’t have to choose just one option, but the more concentrated your efforts the easier it will be for your customers to know what you are providing and make their choice.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Selling items
- jewelry, yard sale, popsicles, etc.
- Making items
- Lemonade, cookies, art, hair bows, play dough, etc.
- Service they can do
- Picking up dog poop, washing windows, walking dogs, braiding hair, etc.
Get creative!!
3. Talk about the Money
Next, decide how much your child will charge for their product/services. If you can, get out physical money to illustrate how much your child will receive for each sale. This will make things more real for them.
Decide how much you will be giving to the non-profit you chose. Expect to remind them about why they chose that particular organization. Again, illustrating with physical money will make this much easier than talking about percentages.
4. Market your Business!
To begin this step, fill out our google form with:
-Your name,
-Your child’s name,
-What you are selling/doing,
-What time frame(s) they will be working,
-Where you will be setting up, and
-What price are you charging?
We will use this info to compile a map of times and locations, services and prices, so we can support each other’s children with their entrepreneurial experiments. PLUS the first 20 people to fill out our form will get a North Texas Giving Day yard sign to put up at their child’s selling location. This will hopefully drive more business to your little one and help to legitimize the operation.
Next, advertise, share and comment on social media. Let the members of your Church group, your Mom’s group, your school group, etc know about your child’s philanthropic event. Your social circle will want to hear about and support your little one in their goals, BUT if they don’t know about it then they can’t participate.
My kids are too small. / We aren’t leaving the house yet. How can we help?
Even if you think your children are too little to participate, you can still help those who are participating.
- If you feel comfortable doing so, drive out to some of the locations on our map and support some of the children on Kids-Giving Day, September 12th.
- Advertise, share and comment on social media. Posts with interactions get more views. When you spread the word to all your platforms, more of our community can get involved.
- Ask for local businesses to sponsor CECPTA. We would love to have a company match our donations, and Kids-Giving Day is an adorable and unique campaign that your spouse’s or friend’s business could get behind.
We appreciate your support of this new event and hope that this fun, family-friendly activity enables us all to feel an even greater sense of community as we connect and support each other’s loved ones in their philanthropic ventures.
Follow our Facebook Event for the latest updates on CECPTA’s Kids-Giving Day!
About the Author: Sarah Hess is a mom of FIVE kids (6,5,4,2,1). She resides in Carrollton, TX, having moved here from Indiana, in January 2019. She has been a CECPTA member since Feb 2019; Green Coordinator since August 2019; and will be the Fundraising Director for the 2020-21 school year. Her children are in the Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue playgroups. Growing up she spent time in Arizona, Florida and Utah where she graduated from Utah Valley University in 2010 with a Bachelors in Behavioral Science (emphasis in Anthropology). She is a talented photographer for Photography of Sarah Mae, and does family portraits, weddings and portraits. She loves discovering new trails, picnic spots, and places to cool off with a horchata. She is fun, full of personality and has a great smile!
