To successfully search for and enact healthy fundraising solutions at your school, the first step is to be realistic. Pretzels will not sell as well as a chocolate bar. That is just the bottom line. However, that shouldn't dictate your fundraising precepts. If you think about it, cigarettes would probably also outsell many healthy items, but obviously there will be no "Winston's For Wrestling" or "Kool's For Cross Country" fundraiser on campus anywhere.



It may seem that the above analogy is far fetched, but it's really not from a healthy perspective. There was a time in this county when cigarettes were considered harmless. They would actually give them to soldiers in WWII for free under the pretense that cigarettes would help them relax in the trenches. Doctors would prescribe them to women for nerves. All of that has obviously changed, and society's attitude toward junk food and candy is changing as well. The number one killer in America isn't lung cancer or throat cancer (smoking related). No, in fact, the number one killer in the country is heart disease, often caused by poor diet. That's why it's of dire importance to search for healthy fundraising solutions.

In addition to the health needs of America's youth, you should also search for healthy fundraising solutions because its becoming the law on many school campuses. In California public schools for example, this September 2007 the state will begin phasing in CA SB-19, which mandates what types of food and snacks can be on campus between and hour before school starts and an hour after school starts. These guidelines are that snacks be less than 35% fat, less than 35% sugar, and less than 10% saturated fat, with exclusions for nuts and nut butters.

In September 2007 compliance is strongly recommended and by September 2008, it will be compulsory. In fact many school like the Torrance Unified School District decided last year that they would stand up for what is right and embrace these regulations a year early. Many other school districts desiring to stand up for health and nutrition have done the same thing. So the bottom line is, in California, using candy and junk food to fundraise is becoming a thing of the past.

Are you ready for the future? As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, California is leading the way in nutrition reform at the school level, but many states like Connecticut, Wisconsin, Washington and others are close behind in this manner. So not only is it the right thing to do to look for healthy fundraising solutions, it will soon be the law to do so.

Finally, direct fundraising or product sales fundraising is the most effective form there is. In the past this was overwhelmingly candy. Now that it's going away, you'll need an alternative to maintain a product sales focused fundraising program. This is the

third reason you should look for healthy fundraising solutions. The bottom line, most schools have the greatest success with product sales fundraising because you're actually selling something of value to the customer/charity contributor. You're providing something of value, rather than simply "begging for money.

So there you have them: your reasons to go forth and find healthy fundraising solutions!!!