Rotary Club Flag Fundraiser Begins this Weekend
We have partnered with the Sunrise Rotary Club to help them with a Flag program their club has operated for many years now. As a fundraiser for them, annual subscriptions are sold, to specific neighborhoods, to display flags in front of subscribers houses on 6 holidays throughout the year. The holidays are Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, 9/11, & Veterans Day. This becomes a fundraiser for us as we are “subcontracted” to provide the labor for a specific route. We earn $2 per flag ($1 for putting out and $1 for picking up). The route that has been assigned to us, currently has 112 flags and is in SW Arlington, Martin HS District (within the proximity to North of Pleasant Ridge Rd, South of Arkansas Ln, East of Little Rd, and West of Bowen Rd). There are other routes within this area, as well, AND there is quite a bit of opportunity to grow by adding new customers, who already live on the route, but do not currently subscribe. If we add a subscriber, through our marketing efforts, we get an additional one-time $5 and then the $2 for each holiday. Marketing is done by distributing door flyers (hangers) to potential subscribers ONLY within our route boundaries. It is VERY IMPORTANT to understand that there are other routes throughout the City and we will ONLY focus our efforts in our assigned area per our agreement with the Rotary Club. There is more opportunity than we can staff!
The flags are displayed for multiple days on 3 holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day). We’ll typically put flags out on the Saturday before (beginning at 6:00 am) and pick them up on the following Tuesday (beginning as early as 4:30 pm). On the other holidays: Flag Day, 9/11, & Veterans Day, we are expected to get the flags out that morning and pick them up that evening. This is the Rotary Club’s program and part of our agreement is that we operate within their schedule. The weather (rain) sometimes affects when flags are displayed as they do not want them picked up and stored wet (to avoid mildew). The flags are stored at a Rotarians place of business (Colors Carpet Cleaning) at 2155 Corzine Dr, Arlington (76013), a small industrial park between Pioneer Pkwy & Arkansas Ln. This is where we will meet to load the flags and where we will meet to return the flags.
If you have not already done the math, the value of this fundraiser is easily about $1300 per year (with the current number of subscribers) and based on what’s been calculated, it would not be difficult for us to grow the route, with the right amount of volunteer support, and earn close to $2000 per year.
WE NEED SCOUTS & ADULTS to successfully execute this program. Please look at your schedule and let Mr. Acker know where you can help… WE START THIS WEEKEND!! – I realize this is short notice for some of you. We do have a small group who has already committed to this first run, but we could use more! For this Memorial Day, we’ll split the route into 2 smaller routes. If we get enough additional support, we can break it up even further, taking less time to execute. It would be best if we have 2 (minimum) “Display Teams”, at least one “Marketing Team”, and 2 (minimum) “Pick Up Teams”. Each “Display Team” will need an open bed pick up, (preferably; a large SUV could work), minimum two adults (Registered with BSA) and a minimum of 2 Scouts. The “Marketing” Team will need a minimum of 2 adults, and however many Scouts we can fit into the drivers vehicle. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP THIS SATURDAY, MAY 27, FROM 6:00 AM – 8:00 AM or on TUESDAY, MAY 30, FROM 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM, please call or text Mr. Acker on his cell or email.
The next holiday, Flag Day – June 14th, is while we are at Scout camp. The Rotary Club is aware that we may not have enough volunteers to execute and they are prepared to run this route themselves. HOWEVER, if you are not going to Scout Camp and can volunteer on Wednesday, June 14th, from 6:00-8:00 am or from 5:00-7:00 pm, we can keep still earn the available funds for the Troop.