AQA
QUILCHENA PARENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
(PAC)
Annual Quilchena Appeal 2005/06
Question and Answer Fact Sheet
This
Question and Answer (Q & A) sheet has been developed to help parents
understand the Annual Quilchena Appeal and its importance to their child’s
experience at Quilchena Elementary.
1. What is the Annual Direct Appeal?
The Annual Quilchena
Appeal is a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) sponsored fundraising appeal. Once a year we ask families to donate money in
order to support a number of programs within the school that are not funded by
the Vancouver School Board (VSB).
2. What is the money raised through
the Annual Quilchena Appeal used for?
Thanks to the support of hundreds of
Quilchena parents, PAC has been able to provide funding for the following
programs over the years:
·
Library
resources including books, encyclopedias and magazine subscriptions
·
Books
for the
·
Science
equipment
·
New
risers for the school gymnasium for concerts and performances
·
Playground
equipment and the outdoor classroom
·
Information
Technology resources and equipment, including computers, printers and software
·
Teacher’s
classroom funds
·
Safe
Arrival Program
·
Performing/Fine
Arts Program and musical instruments, and
·
Sports
Equipment and team uniforms.
In
addition to the programs that PAC funds on a regular annual basis, there are specific
projects that parents have funded over the past two to three years and that
continue to be high priorities for PAC funding, including:
·
Primary Home Reading Program – for English and French Immersion students. Many studies have proven the benefits from
having a well-developed home reading program.
We are working towards the goal of having a comprehensive Home Reading
Program at Quilchena and in order to do so we need more books;
·
Library/Reference Centre – A comprehensive and well-stocked library provides
students with an invaluable resource and contributes greatly to their overall
learning;
·
Computer Lab
- We completed a brand new computer lab in 2003/04, with twice the space we’ve
had in the past few years! There are
still many items required to make our lab complete including such things as
additional software, printers, and scanners;
·
ESL Resources
– Our English as a Second Language (ESL) population at Quilchena is rising and we
need appropriate reading materials, workbooks, etc.; and
·
Improvements to the school’s physical environment, such as the new playground.
The money
we raise through the Annual Quilchena Appeal contributes in a very substantial
way to making Quilchena the excellent learning environment it currently
is.
We support every child in the school
with our donations.
3. Will I be asked to donate again during
the school year?
Over the
years, Quilchena parents have consistently told the PAC that you would rather
write one cheque near the beginning of the year rather supporting multiple
numbers of fundraisers throughout the year (such as the sale of coupon
books, poinsettias, and so on). One of the key goals of the Annual Quilchena Appeal
is therefore to reduce the number of
times you are asked for funds to support the school.
The more money we raise through the Annual
Quilchena Appeal, the less we have to raise in other
ways.
Traditionally,
there is a separate campaign to raise money for the Grade 6/7 French Immersion
trip to
9. What about the other fundraising
and fun events in the school?
Our popular
community spirit events will not change. The International Dinner,
and the June Family BBQ are fun evenings for our students and their families. The Hot Lunch program is fun and raises some
funds for the school. The annual Book
Fair raises money for the Library.
4. Why don’t we raise money through
other ways?
Generally,
a small percentage of the funds raised through most fundraising programs
actually ‘comes back’ to the school, thus meeting the
needs of the kids. The Annual Quilchena Appeal
is the most cost-effective way of
raising money, in that it maximizes the use of volunteer time and has the
lowest cost per dollar raised, compared to other ways
of raising money.
5. Why do we need to raise money?
Unfortunately,
our tax dollars only go so far. Teachers
and the School Board work within limited amounts of funding, and many things
that used to be provided are no longer covered through government funding. All of the things listed above are paid for
by parents.
6. How much do we need to raise?
This year,
we are hoping to raise $25,000 in order to meet all of the needs that have been
identified in our survey of teachers and parents. You can designate your gift to any
fundraising area (see pages 1 and 2). The PAC web site (http://quilchena.vsb.bc.ca/, click on
“PAC”) provides budget information for the past few years. The 2005/06 budget will be posted on the web
site once it is approved later in the fall.
7. How much should we donate?
We realize
that different families have the capacity to give different levels of
gifts. Last year, we received gifts
ranging from $25 to $1000. All gifts are
welcome. We are hoping that families
will consider giving $100 for each child (about $10/month), which would enable
us to meet the goals for this year.
Our most important goal is for 100%
of Quilchena’s families to donate a meaningful gift, regardless
of the amount. That will be our true mark of success.
8. Do we need to write a cheque for
the full amount now, or can we spread out our
donation?
You can
make your donation in more than one payment.
If this is your preference, please write post-dated cheques. We need to receive all cheques
by the
10. Do we get a tax receipt for our
gift?
Yes. Tax receipts are issued for all donations over
$25. Donations dated in 2005 will
receive an official 2005 tax receipt
early in 2006. Donations dated in 2006 will receive an official 2006 tax
receipt in 2007. Tax receipts will bear
the same name(s) as those that appear on the cheque (personal or business).
11. What is the deadline for
donating?
We are
asking parents to send in their donations, including post-dated cheques, by
Thank you for your
support!
October
2005
PAC
Executive