50th Anniversary

How YOU can help UPC in your very own back yard!

By Linda James

UPC is here today due to a common vision held by many: to help re-build Congo through education. To help ensure a sustainable future for the university, please consider how you can help. No idea is too large or too small, or too wild and crazy! Here are just a few examples (and we invite you to send in other ideas, which we'll post on UPC's website HYPERLINK "http://www.upCongo.org" www.upCongo.org !):

1. Coins for Congo - Drop your loose coins into a jar and amaze yourself at how much is collected for UPC this year!
2. Celebrating your 50th birthday this year? Invite your friends and family to come blow out your birthday candles...and donate to UPC instead of buying you a gift.
3. Host an Africa-themed potluck supper at your home or church, and ask invitees to drop their loose change into a UPC Birthday Jar.
4. Challenge your kids or grandkids to organize a simple fundraising event... selling lemonade, raking leaves.
5. Collaborate with your neighbors and hold a massive community garage and bake sale, with proceeds going towards UPC.
6. Inspire social activism with young adults by challenging them to approach their favorite hangouts to ask for a percentage of sales on a given day (a neighborhood youth center or pub or sports center might even showcase an African band to draw in bigger crowds!).
7. Contact quilt making circles in your town and ask them to donate a quilt - and to auction it off for you. (Many quilting groups now use African textile scraps...maybe you have some that can be passed on to your new best friends!)
8. Ask your neighborhood movie theater to donate ticket sales from one showing to UPC.
9. Book a community hall or school auditorium, and show an inspiring film. Get your local Brownie or Scout troops to help sell tickets in advance, and your friends to provide Bake Sale goodies.
10. Initiate a walkathon inside a centrally heated mall, and ask the mall management to sponsor and coordinate the event.
11. Approach French language (or international studies or African history classes etc) in your local high school, community college or university and suggest a Trivia Quiz night that raises funds for "education that builds a nation."
12. Contact the churches in your area that represent UPC's founding churches (American Baptist, British Baptist, Presbyterians USA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and United Methodist Churches), and encourage them to organize an activity this year that benefits UPC. Could be something as simple as placing a UPC Birthday Jar in their reception area, or passing the jar at a church social.
13. Assemble a group of energetic youth to sell pledge tickets to friends, family, neighbors and local businesses to sponsor a free car wash to the general public. Print pledge tickets with $.50 per car washed. Organize a central location for the car wash and go to it!
14. A cookbook fundraiser is a fun opportunity for friends and neighbors to share their culinary secrets and maybe some African recipes. Pair it with a bake sale!
15. Turn trash into cash with a successful bottle drive or recycling fundraiser. Alert your friends, neighbors and congregations about your upcoming drive so they can begin saving for your collection day. Never hurts to advertise in the community!
16. A community clean-up fundraiser can be organized by your church by targeting a park or city block that deserves a fresh start. Ask friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to sponsor your group's cleanup efforts. You can also ask local businesses, and people who live near the area you'll be cleaning.
17. Chef's unite! Organize a community cooking class with a theme - new wives' recipes, Italian cuisine, holiday cookies. Local restaurants or businesses might donate supplies.
18. Who needs a good handyman? Everyone! Your team can offer to clean up a yard, paint a fence, or hang a picture for a small fee.
19. If your school, organization or place of business has a strict dress code, opt for a day when people can donate a small amount (for example, $5) in exchange for the option to wear jeans or casual dress. For an ongoing fundraiser, make it a regular Friday event.
20. Spring into action! Speak to your local nursery to buy flats of flowers at a discount. Sell the flowers along with the offer to plant them to friends, family, neighbors, and local businesses.
21. Coordinate with a local wine shop for their expertise and venue to host a wine-tasting fundraiser. They will help sell tickets to the event and get the word out!
22. A bingo fundraiser can easily be hosted in a church hall or school cafeteria ($1 per game or $20 for unlimited games). Prizes for the winners can be homemade or donated by local merchants. The snacks and beverages can be sold to add to the final tally.
23. How about seniors auctioning themselves off to the underclassmen to be a butler for a day? Butler responsibilities would be greet their "employer" as they arrive for school, carry their books, fetch their lunch, etc.
24. A new twist on game night. Sell tickets to be a part of a board game tournament (Sorry, Monopoly, Trouble). Prizes can vary from a portion of the ticket sales to gift certificates.
25. Bagger for a Day! Provide a nice service to your community and raise funds at the same time. Find a busy grocery store that is willing to help your group and pick a busy day of the week - Saturday morning. Print off flyers that explain your group and what you are doing in the store that day. Have a tip jar at each register. You may want each bagger to wear a nametag with UPC's name on it as well.
26. A hilarious twist on the dinner fundraiser - Tell people to bring an individual serving, cooked meal or dessert, their checkbook, and their sense of adventure. They will be bidding for their dinner. Meals can be as simple as scrambled eggs, or as elaborate as lobster thermidor. It is up to each person to decide what to bring. Put a cover over each meal to keep it a secret and let the biding begin.
27. Pop, pop, pop. What can be more fun that popping a balloon? Winning something for doing so, of course! This is an easy fundraiser and can be incorporated into other events. Place the prize slips into the balloons, fill them with helium, and tie a string to them. All balloons should have a slip of paper, even if it is just a thank you for participating.
28. A reward for good grades and support UPC - Find sponsors who will pay a certain amount for every A or B on a report card. Allow each student to photocopy their report card to send it to their sponsors along with envelopes so they can collect the money. Throw a pizza party at the end of the fundraiser for all the students to thank them for all their hard work.
29. Have a "we bake for you" sale as your next fundraiser. Decide on a list of approximately ten things that you and your group will bake and what you can sell each for with a nice profit. Create order forms with your selections, their prices, and the date they will be available. Maybe include pictures to really entice people.
30. Windshield washing at a busy fast food restaurant with a drive thru lane that is interested in helping your group has a fundraiser. Offer to wash the windshields of cars going through the drive thru for a donation. Have someone at the back of the line explain to the driver the UPC cause, and ask if they would like to donate.
31. Wishing well fountains - Approach your local mall and restaurant to donate the pennies, dimes and nickels to UPC. For one week, ask that all the money put into designated fountains go to UPC.
32. Live in a large metropolitan area? Reach out to the Congolese community and coordinate an evening of Congolese music - Franco Comes Alive! Raise the awareness!
33. Guessing Jar - Individuals can take a shot at guessing the amount of items in the jar how ever many times they choose, but each try costs them and UPC will benefit!
34. Scavenger hunt. Participants pay an entry fee and the winner would be the person or team that had the most items and returned to the designated location in the least amount of time.
35. Here's one for the men: Ugliest Tie Contest. Yep, you can finally raise some money off that eyesore! Maybe it takes place on Thursday at work or at Sunday church service. Contestants pay an entry fee and the winner will deserve a prize.
36. Nothing better than cool, crisp, sweet watermelon on a hot day in August! Add a watermelon eating contest to a school function or church picnic.
37. The ever famous chili cook-off never loses its appeal. And your recipe is always a winner! What a nice event for the community on a Sunday afternoon. Publicize it and watch people flock!
38. Progressive dessert-tasting event is perfect for a neighborhood. Several houses can volunteer to open their doors and volunteers can prepare an assortment of delectable desserts for tasting at each house. Participants pay an entry fee.
39. Historic homes in your city? Organize home tours because we all are curious about the nooks & crannies within! Maybe the neighborhood organization can smooth the way.
40. "No-Talent" Contest will provide unique entertainment. Capitalize on the lack of talent! Charge an admission fee to attendees and performers. Award prizes based on the applause. It will be an evening filled with laughter!
41. Black-tie Evening of Dance Themes. Maybe the local dance school would be willing to provide quick lessons in a few styles. Volunteers can provide hors d'oeuvres and drinks for extra donations. Then, strike up the violins and glide across the floor! Add prizes to the best-dressed, etc.
42. An evening in your home to raise awareness of Congo - Host a dinner party and show a film (or your own photos) on Congo. Your friends and neighbors can gather at your home for the same amount that they would have paid at a restaurant for the evening.
43. Are you a master seamstress? You might think of items that can be made for sale at a church bazaar and donated to UPC.
44. An art fundraiser might be coordinated through your school or the art community in your city. Artists might donate their work to your event and agree to be on hand to discuss their work. It helps them get exposure in the community and support UPC. A local gallery might open their doors for an evening of art and wine.
45. Auctions always work! You can gather donated items from local merchants, artists, and restaurants to auction at an annual gala dinner.
46. Create a calendar of your favorite cakes (with recipes), local tourist attractions and colorful characters (local barbershop, Sheriff Bob), or lovely sunsets.
47. Sell pizza slices at a sporting event. Order pizzas for delivery at the game and sell the slices individual slices to make a profit. Then donate to UPC!
48. For those that are not the faint of heart, there is always the Golf Tournament Event which will take publicity, sponsorship, pledges and a golf course!
49. Wish list - is there a family wedding coming up? As a part of the celebration, let the guests know about your involvement with UPC. They might consider donating in lieu of a gift.
50. Let your imagination run wild - the sky is the limit! Most important, enjoy whatever event you choose to undertake and know that UPC will be appreciative!

NALB can provide brochures and fact sheets to support your fundraising efforts. Just contact board chairman Jimmy Shafe by emailing HYPERLINK "mailto:jimmyshafe@comcast.net" jimmyshafe@comcast.net or call (770) 326-9229 Extension 102 or cell (404) 425-2537.