Spaghetti Dinner Fund-Raiser

Every year (for three years now) my chorus puts on a spaghetti dinner musical. Parents take on the various tasks of asking for donations from local businesses. We have a local warehouse for bagged salad, and they always donate tons of salad. Outback Restaurant donated 150 loaves of bread this year! They get gift cards for the food, flowers for the tables, and even tablecloths to add to the festivities.

Parents take the beef and sauce from me and bring it back (hot) as spaghetti sauce the night of the event. (My school does not have cooking facilities, just warmers.) Muellers' donates the spaghetti that my husband cooks in a boil pot (the same type of pot as a turkey fryer) on the loading dock.

Teachers serve the spaghetti in the cafe lines, and the students deliver the food. My faculty always brings baked goods, and therefore our dessert is cost free.

To make the dinner more manageable, only the families of chorus members are invited. (I've thought about opening it up to the school community.) After we eat, we perform our musical. It's our own dinner theater. I charge the parents $5.00 and children 6-12 years old $3.00. Chorus students and faculty helpers eat free. This year, I didn't pay out any money for the food, and we made $480.00 for the chorus.

It's lots of fun, and the work is spread out so it's not too much on anyone. Traditionally, chorus has been a fifth grade privilege, and they really look forward to this event.