The Fountain Hills Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) held its first 5K and fun run fundraiser on Saturday, Jan. 28. The “Feathers and Flapjacks” fundraiser replaced the annual Gala event, but …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
The Fountain Hills Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) held its first 5K and fun run fundraiser on Saturday, Jan. 28. The “Feathers and Flapjacks” fundraiser replaced the annual Gala event, but there will still be an online silent auction fundraiser this April.
There were 99 registered runners and 59 registered walkers in the Feathers and Flapjacks fundraiser. The PTO netted approximately $5,000, and they accomplished their goal of creating a new family-friendly community event.
“With the Gala, you have to get a babysitter, you have to get a new outfit, the tickets were more pricey,” Feathers and Flapjacks chair Robin Bratcher said. “That was another thing with the race, we really saw families there and all ages. You don’t get that at the Gala.”
Whether it was the beautiful weather or the free jazzercise warm-up, everyone was in high spirits on Saturday morning. Students and their family members participated, as well as community members with no connections to the schools.
“It was super great because there were some older community members, and there were ex-teachers or ex-principles, and they were so nice,” Bratcher said. “They were so happy and that’s what our goal was. Get the community on our school campus and check it out, so they feel we appreciate them.”
The top three overall finishers each earned trophies, and then the top three fishers in each age category earned medals. The PTO provided dry-fit race shirts to those who registered in time, and they kept the race on the high school campus to avoid road closures and the additional costs that would come with that.
“That was the tricky thing with the course. You have to get three miles, so I know there were a lot of turns,” Bratcher said. “I think that’s the only negative feedback we heard.”
There was a last-minute change to the course as well, but the PTO learned what works and what doesn’t with their first attempt. Bratcher said they could work on advertising more, since the PTO originally hoped runners from the Valley might come out, and some of the runners explained they didn’t know about the race until it was almost too late.
The PTO is also working to find and create more options for its online silent auction from April 7-21. In the past, the PTO has offered reserved parking spots and reserved front row seats for middle and high school graduation. They’ve also auctioned donations from local businesses before.
The next PTO fundraiser will be the Scholastic Book Fair at McDowell Mountain Elementary School and Fountain Hills Middle School from March 6-10. To learn more or to get involved with the PTO, visit fhusdpto.org.
