we have most things down to an art. Food at meetings are all brought and paid for by volunteers so it goes home with who brought it. If they don't want it it goes in the staff lounge. Out staff appreciation week (half donated and half paid for by group) is if you butter up to your kitchen staff they are more than willing to put leftover meat trays, soups, etc in for the next day. If a volunteer can't be there to get it out she will do it for us. she is the best! Staff members will always eat it!
Leftovers from events, if it is like a whole container unopened we will put it in our storage(just watch the dates) and since we do a family event each month it almost always gets used. If it is a opened container of juice it gets sent home with a volunteer, the only time we do pizza is on a Friday night after volleyball so leftovers go home with different people who may have helped serve it, may have set up, etc. This time of year we do have leftover containers of juice but usually there are some school things you can donate to so it is used up by summer...we are giving ours to the reading celebration.
I am a strong believer that pto funds should not be taken advantage of, our old pta would go out for their last meeting to an upscale restaurant...now we all bring/donate a snack to share and boy do we get lots!!! Alot of times if you go to a restaurant your whole group wont go, but are more apt to come to school for a celebration! We also do alot of thank yous but very very seldom do they get paid for by the group, I am probably more generous than I should be but little things often mean alot and if it means I spend 30.00 of my own money to buy pizza for helpers I will do it. If I totaled what I spend out of pocket in a year it would scare me!! Just this morning I spent 36.00 on stuff to do thank you bags for our last meeting BUT i love doing it!

[ 06-04-2006, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: pals ]

I'm gonna stick my 2 cents worth in here.
We don't have any "pay for" events, so that one's a moot point for our PTA. But, in my opinion, if someone is working the event, they should not be charged to be there. The spouse, the kids, the babysitter should all pay.
As for the food issue, we try to leave as much as possible for the staff. When we did the back to school picic, the store allowed us to bring back any unopened packages of hot dogs, buns, etc. Whatever was on the grill, we put on a plate and walked around force feeding to people. [img]smile.gif[/img]
The chips, watermelon, etc was put into the staff lounge with a big sign on the chalk board telling them to eat up.
For staff appreciation, we've almost got that down to a science, so the waste is minimal. Parents bring in crock pots of soup, desserts, and salads. We plate up the desserts and leave in the lounge. Unless there is alot of the soups and salads left, they get dumped. If there is, we stick back in the fridge and let the parent know where to find their food and container.
We have had events where we served pizza. Our local pizza joint can have more to us in the matter of 10 minutes, so we order as needed. It doesn't seem to have discouraged folks from waiting that 10 minutes at all. There has been an occasional pizza left over and we walk the crowd, giving a slice here and there.
There may be once in awhile, a bunch left and we'll sell them at cost to whoever wants to take one home. Sodas, etc end up in the fridge with a note saying to drink up.
The only other item that finds its way home with volunteers is paints that we had from our Kids make and take day. They probably wouldn't last til the next year, and I use alot of paints so the pres and I reach a mutually agreed upon price for the used paints and I take them home.
Sometimes there is a fine line between not being wasteful and obvious gluttony, as I think is the case with the 40 extra dinners ordered.

:eek: I think "dlf" had the best approach for this. Why not expect to make a donation for a tray of lasagna if your taking it home?

Just to clear matters up,,,there has not been a question raised at any PTO meeting about this practice of letting everyone and their cousin and babysitter in for free, however I was on the board this year and did take this individually to the people on the board who did bring in their children free, husband, sister, and two other friends for free. We are a low income school and we only charge $5 per family for a family evening event, this should be no hardship for any PTO board member. It is not the occaisional volunteer who has adopted this practice either, but the board members themself have become a little too comfortable over the years with the same 4-5 people switching positions and assuming too much for free. We have not seen bylaws in our group for over 2 years and they are not adheard to if we can locate a copy. (No treasure's report or audit either).

This is not a matter of mistrust, this is a matter of those who choose to use their PTO status for gain. To order from Marie Calendar who catered our event for 40 extra people for a Teacher appreciation luncheon is not wise stewardship of our children's money (approx $250 worth of left over food was taken out the back door by 4 board members ). If I catered my husband's office party and paid for it myself, my head count might be over by 5%-10% to cover for big eaters or visiting person, but not 40 extra people!!! I am also witness to the Pres. taking cash from the SANTA STORE each day to pay for drinks and sandwiches for everyone from a local deli. How often does this happen at other PTO's? How do account for this in your book keeping? What was our real profit for the SANTA STORE and other events? :confused:

Now tell me again,,,,why would there be mistrust? The PTO has been told that it did not look right that the food was quickly swept out of the Teacher's lounge and into their own cars. This continues to happen at our school despite the warnings of inapproriatness, so yes, I would think that at the very least, we may have to make an amendment to the missing by laws that when their is too much to throw away just make a fair donation, and we can pack up a tray of lasagna for your dinner tonight !

As long as the "Majority" have ok'd the so called perks. ie. "Eating for free, attending, passing out leftovers (that cant even be boxed up and sent to the poor people in Ethiopia- that's how old I am)" I see no harm in using that as acknowledgement in lieu of (not really thank yous' should still be given) acknowledgement.

Remember as a non profit "This corporation is a nonprofit PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION and is not organized for the private gain of any person. The property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes and no part of
the net income or assets of this corporation shall ever inure to the benefit of any director,
officer or member thereof or to the benefit of any private person."

Are any of the above post breaking this rule??
As long as they members arent reselling leftovers, t-shirts, flowers, or leftover gifts from raffles, etc. off on eBay; the lines of communication are open; and the board is not throwing things away (we are financial responsible, ya know) and again "the Majority" has ruled. I see know reason in not allowing 'so called Perks" (After cooking 350 burgers- I usually need to eat a couple and vrink a beer- :eek: Oh yeah, no alcohol on campus- who me [img]redface.gif[/img]

[ 05-22-2006, 01:47 AM: Message edited by: Shawn ]

I like dlf's approach. I guess, like others have said, it also depends on how you define "perk" and on each instance as well.

For example, last year I chaired the food committee for our carnival. I was surrounded by food all night but didn't have time to eat anything. At one point, my son came back and asked for a soda. I handed him .50 and showed him where the end of the line was. By the end of the evening there was no food left (we sold out!) and I had to hit McDs drive through on the way home.

If other volunteers give themselves 'perks' it's hush hush and I've never heard of it. Publicly we all strive to set a positive example.

I guess I draw the line on the original example that started this thread. To go so far as to define who deserves what and vote on it sounds elitist.

For the left over food thing...we do take those things home that won't be eaten if we want to...but we make a donation that is agreed upon by everyone present. We can almost always sell the stuff that is left, I mean heck a big pan of homemade meat lasagna is certainly worth the 10 dollar donation we request. I recently took home a half of a pack of meat and cheese and made a 7.50 donation. Was it worth more, maybe, but that was an amount everyone at the location agreed upon. I guess it isn't really the who takes what issue, it's how the group chooses to handle it. It won't work perfectly each time but at least the intent is right. And if my children are going to eat it, I should pay for it. It is that or I hit the drive thru on the way home.

ps--the lasagna was delicious.