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NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. — The Fannie E. Proctor Elementary School was put in a bit of a bind back a few months ago when the October snowstorm hit right in the middle of their annual book fair—the school's biggest fundraiser.
With little opportunity to sell books, the fair earned about $1,000 less than expected.
According to Sue Feeney—who, along with Maria Mihalek, updated the Northbrough K-8 School Committee on behalf of the Proctor Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)—the school tries to generate between $17,000 and $18,000 per year through fundraising, almost all of which is typically spent.
To make up for lost funds that it was sure to need, the school decided to reach out to the community. In a letter to Proctor families, the school asked for $5 donations from those who could do so. The response was enourmous. All told, over $900 were collected.
"It was really nice to see that," Feeney said. "[The problem] was pretty much solved."
But the school did not stop there. By selling BJ's Wholesale Club memberships and coupon books, it was able to bring in an additional $1,500.
"It's pretty amazing that we were able to raise that much money and bring it all into the school," Feeney said.
Feeney added that Proctor will hold a one-day book fair in March to make up for the one in October. And there will be many other events as well. "We also try to do programs for Proctor that don't necessarily need to make a lot of money, but help the families out," Feeney said.
Added Northborough Superintendent Charles Gobron: "We always feel that Proctor is a vibrant school community."
