Let's hear it for fun-raising!

Erin Shachory, a parent at Riverside Drive Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, writes:

Last Sunday, Riverside Drive Elementary held its fifth Annual Fall Festival, the biggest fundraiser of our school year.  As a vice president of our parent organization, I was heavily involved in the planning and logistics of the event, which included a haunted house, bouncies, bumper cars, food vendors, silent auction, live entertainment, game booths ... and lots and lots of pleas for money, both direct and indirect. 

"Wow! The games are only one ticket each!" I overhead a second-grader say to a friend. Both smiled because they had tickets in their pockets -- only their parents knew that each ticket was $1, hard-earned in this tough economic time.

Last week, as I hyperventilated and sweated the small stuff, my husband asked why I was so nervous.  "What if we don't raise as much money as last year?" I asked, thinking of the more than $100,000 that the parent organization raised in the last year and the budget that was designed around that figure to pay for computer education, drama, teacher aides. My head was swirling already, and I knew that other schools in Sherman Oaks were holding their own Halloween fairs over the same weekend.

My husband laughed. "Isn't it about fun? Won't the kids and the community have a good time? Even if you make 40 bucks, isn't it a success?" 

I stopped my shallow breathing. He had a point. It's not always about exceeding our financial goals; sometimes, the tradition and good old-fashioned fun are enough of a reason to have a party.

So, on Sunday at around 2:30 p.m., when I had trouble walking through the crowds to get from one end of the school to the other, I smiled. My kids ran with their friends from booth to booth, accumulating face paint, hair streaks and fake tattoos. I don't know what our numbers are yet, but I know that one of our teachers supervised the toddler bouncy for two hours. Nearly 100 parents volunteered to set up and run the festival. Our principal helped clean up. Fifth graders manned the haunted house. Kindergartners sang. 

In uncertain times, maybe we can't measure success by dollar signs. Maybe it's just the taste of cotton candy and the sound of laughter on a sunny Sunday in October.