Our PTO held our second annual spaghetti supper this year and we had a tremendous turnout! This year we did not presell tickets and had a better turn out than the year before. We are a pretty small town and planned for about 450 people. We had it pretty well pegged. What we did for the meal was enlisted all kindergartners and first graders to bring dry spaghetti. The 2nd and 3rd graders brought cans of spaghetti sauce. The 4th graders brought 1 dollar each to pay for any hamburger that we didn't have donated. The 5th graders brought cakes, pies or cookies. The 6th graders helped serve tea, napkins, helped carry trays for elderly folks. We had bread, napkins, cheese, etc. donated by area businesses. The PTO board and involved parents fixed the meal, served and cleaned up. It was a great fund raiser and we had a great time doing it!
We are a new school and have done two spaghetti dinners. The first year we hired a caterer. It was easy, but out profit margin was about 50% of our revenues. Dessert was provided by a bake sale which did make good money, considering our small school size.
The second year we asked for donations from parents of food supplies and paper goods. volunteers then made the food: pasta, meatless sauce, salad, rolls, dessert (donated by parents) and drinks. What wasn't donated, we bought at Sam's. The profit margin was a net of 1200 for a $250 expenditure (245 students).
We do not have a community school (it is a school of choice with students from all over the county) so we always pair it with another event, like the Book Fair night, or an Open HOuse of our new school (not orientation or parent conference night). A parent is a musician who entertains during the dinner.
I have seen where students perform during dinner, which is quite a draw but prohibits the flow of people in eating their meals. Our cafeteria can't hold many people at once, so we need them to move in and move out, not stay in their seats all night.
We presale tickets with a higher price at the door. Emphasize "no refunds" and our book keeper would like us to color code the tickets for pre-sale and night-of sales. Keep track of how many tickets have been sold, verses how many meals served. Also, you may want to limit the number of tickets available the night of the dinner if preparing the right quantity is a problem (not usually for spaghetti, but can be for barbeque.)
Watching us fumble through our first year, a dedicated parent with restaurant experience volunteered to run the kitchen each year.
At one school they use the scouts to assist. This is especially helpful for parents with young children who are carrying two plates and drinks.
Our next Spaghetti Dinner is Jan. 24; we hold it along with the school's Technology Night, so turnout is great. Prices are $2 for adult, $1 for children and we presell tickets as well as sell them at the door.
Each grade is asked to bring in 1 item-my son was in 1st grade last year, so he brought in bread. Other grades brought sauce,pasta,salad stuff, and the teachers made desserts and also do the cooking/serving. (We have about 640 students, so even if half of them bring in what we ask we have enough.) PTA handles setup/cleanup.
It's all-u-can-eat, so everyone has a full tummy before setting out to see what technolgy we have in the school and how we use it. It's one of our best attended events.
(Prices may seem low, but we have many reduced price/free lunch kids whose families might not be able to attend if they were higher.)
We hosted our 1st Spaghetti Supper/Open House. We had our cafeteria Staff order and prepare. Charged $5.00 and $2.50. We tried to presell but at least 1/2 paid at door. Next year we may up at the door cost. Our menu was spaghetti, salad, bread, drink and dessert. The desserts were cakes donated by a local grocer. It did fairly well and since it was our first year we will be working out any kinks as time goes by. Teachers were there to meet with parents if parents chose to. No running home from work to fix supper and get to school for Open House. This helped some of the excuses of not having time.
Along with our annual Spaghetti Night we have a silent auction. Families are invited to donate items, plus local businesses donate also. Last year, we added a Basket Raffle. Each grade was given a theme (gardening, sports, Huskers, etc.) and students were asked to bring a new item that fit the theme to create a gift basket. As people came to eat they could bid on items or buy raffle tickets for which ever basket they wanted to win. The basket raffle gave an opportunity for people to participate even if they couldn't afford to bid a lot for the other items.
