“Eatin’ Good in The Neighborhood”

“It’s a good way to raise money and help a local business, and everyone needs to eat right? ” said Kim Thompson, secretary of the senior class when asked about their latest fundraising event. The senior class planned a dine and donate event at Applebee’s restaurant located at 3050 N 5th street hwy. The event raised money for trips and other activities that the senior class will be doing this semester. Kim who along with the other senior class officers planned the event said that between 50 and 75 people attended and participated in the dine and donate.

It is free for an organization to plan the event and ten percent of every check goes towards the organization that planned the event. In order to have the amount donated to the organization, the participants must bring a copy of the flyer to the restaurant and present it to their server. Applebee’s provides the flyer for the organization, it is then the job of the organization to spread the word and get as many people as possible to attend the event.

“We put one of the flyers in students on campus mailboxes and also posted them around campus to get the word out,” said Kim about how they got the word out. This type of fundraising event has been done in the past by many organizations. “Well, we sort of got the idea from other groups that have done it often,” said Kim. Since I was not able to attend this fundraising event myself I spoke to other students that did in fact attend and some that didn’t. “ From what I saw it was a pretty good crowd that attended,” said Meghan Jeffrey a junior. “I never pay attention to those types of notices that we get in our mailboxes,” said Jaleesa Lewis when asked if she heard or attended the event. “And even if I had seen the flyer I probably would not have gone, I have no money and my meal plan is just much easier,” added Jaleesa, a sophomore.

The event in theory is a great way for organizations to raise money and it does help the local business that hosts the event but for many students it is easier to use their meal plans for dinner if they have one. Personally for me it is much easier to charge dinner at jakes then to pay for a meal at Applebee’s. Many seniors who I spoke to had not even heard of the event and said that times are tough economically so it’s hard to spend money even if it is for a fundraiser. No word from Kim yet as to the exact dollar amount that was raised at the dine and donate.