On Saturday morning, May 17th, BSGE’s student organization Junior Council hosted the school’s second “Flapjack Fundraiser” from 8 – 10 am. The first Flapjack Fundraiser was led by the BSGE girls’ softball team, Lady Sting, a few months earlier. For Lady Sting, the event was hosted to raise money to purchase softball equipment such as uniforms, bats, helmets, gloves, nets, etc. The Junior Council also hosted the event with fundraising in mind, however, they wished to raise money to lower the cost of prom, graduation and other Senior dues.
The student organization is familiar with fundraising tactics, having hosted the February “ib Brick” dance party, an all-day bake sale, and May 30th “ib Done” party which is in conjunction with the Senior Council.
The Flapjack Fundraiser was hosted at Applebee’s Restaurant & Grill on 35th Avenue, a block away from BSGE. Students, staff, parents, friends and other family members flocked to the doors for unlimited pancakes, bacon, coffee, tea and juice. Students from all grades came to the event to support the Juniors while enjoying a hearty breakfast with friends.
The Applebee’s chain offers this fundraising deal to all non-profit organizations in the hope of giving back to the community and also making a little bit of money in the before-opening hours of the day. The major breakdown of the deal is that Applebee rents out their restaurant for the organization for two hours before opening. Within these two hours, the organization is free to do anything they want (except vandalism) which may include hosting a movie, raffle, a mini comedy show and similar forms of entertainment. Members of the organization will serve as the waiters/waitresses, bussers and hosts.
Applebee’s will also supply the food, but the amount of food supplied depends on the number of tickets sold. The number of tickets sold must be given to Applebee’s a week prior to the event, which is the most stressful part of the process. If the organization does not sell at least 75 tickets, Applebee’s will fine the organization $300. Plus, for every ticket sold (each ticket was $10), Applebee’s takes $4, which gives the Junior Council a $6 profit from every ticket.
“Selling enough tickets was definitely the main issue for our Flapjack Fundraiser. The Junior Council wasn’t crazy about losing $300, so that last week was really spent hustling and trying to sell as many tickets as possible” says Junior Council member Max Fischman ’15. “In the end it all worked out, so I was really happy about the overall outcome.”
In total, the event brought in 101 customers. The Junior Council had to give $404 to Applebee’s, but after this, their overall profit from the event was $1,211. Now the Junior Council has an estimated $2,800 in the bank.
Briana Spariosu ’15, another member of Junior Council, commented on the outcome of the Fundraiser. “I think the Junior Council did a really good job. No one dropped a plate on anyone or spilled coffee, so all in all, it was a success. The money doesn’t hurt either!”
The BACC Rag 