Archives by: Kevin Seibel

We once had a country and western dinner night at our church. We dressed the fireside room up in total country garb. In the middle we had a chuck-wagon salad bar, including salad and all the fixins, and a big huge block of cheese. We had several artistic set ups including: old lanterns, saddles, reigns and the like. We used these to make small displays containing country and western flavour. On the floor we laid down poly (plastic) and on top of that we laid 2 by 6 boards covering the whole floor. Ask a local lumberyard if they would donate the wood, you can usually take it back after. On top of the wood we through straw to make it seem as though we were in a bar setting. We had lots of straw bails every where which added to the setting. The tables were small with checkered table cloths, and old chairs. The menu consisted of beef and chicken, only a few different things, which all came with a baked potatoe and salad. Serve whatever drinks are poplular… no beer!!! Have whatever We asked those who came to pay by donation, but we also gave a suggested cost for each meal. The youth set up, served, some cooked, and we all took down. It was a great time and we made major bucks. Make sure its well publicized in country and western looking paper for example.

We once did a Jello tank which began as just a fun activity, which turned out to be quite a fundraiser. We began by constructing a huge tank out of wood, which was about 6 feet deep and about 8 by 8 wide. Size varies. We enclosed the whole thing with a huge tarp which we tied down on the outside. We made the Jello in barrells and put them on a crate. We got the jello from a bulk store, usually a food warehouse has it, we mixed it with some additional gelatin using boiling hot or just hot water. We then contacted a near-by food storage warehouse and asked if we could cool six or seven barrels of jello for a few days. Most places have no problem, some even will transport it for you free of charge when they here its for a good cause. On the night of the event we brought the jello over and dumped her in. We made a long slide that was also covered with a tarp. Now the fundraising part of the night went like this. This event costed three dollars for each youth. We also allowed adults and whoever wanted to jump the same fee. On-lookers were charged a dollar each for tickets. We a small door prize for one lucky onlooker. Each jumper recevied a stamp, and then lined up. Most jumpers wore crazy costumes and the like, so that added into the fun. At the bottom of the tank were small tiles which had numbers on them. Each jumper was allowed to bring up as many tiles as possible. At the end of the night, major prizes were given out according to the numbered tiles. It was great fun. Get your senior pastor involved by seeing how much money the crowd would give to get him to dive in too. It was great fun, and we made tons of money for the youth.