On Sept. 23, Foothill’s Associated Student Body (ASB) launched the Axxess fundraiser. Students were given the option of choosing to selling an Axxess membership to friends and family. In a letter, ASB asked students who were not interested in selling the book to make a donation.
The results of the fundraiser were tallied up this past week, Oct. 12 – 16.
Students sold 380 Axxess books, which amounts to $11,400. But because ASB has to pay the company, and 116 books were not turned in, ASB Advisor Melanie “Captain” Lindsey has to pay the company $9,920. ASB also received $2,340 in donations as a result of the fundraiser. Total funds raised were $3,460, which did not meet the $8,000 goal.
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Lindsey said that if the students who took a book return the book or the money for the book, ASB will make around $5,000 from the fundraiser.
Because sales were low and the budget wasn’t met, ASB will have to decide what activities to cut from the budget, according to Lindsey.
Although the goal was not met, Lindsey feels that the fundraiser was successful.
“It was more successful than anything I’ve done so far, so that was positive. Adding the donation letters seemed to help. A lot of people were happier to make the donation then they were to try and sell the book,” she said.
The Axxess membership is a card and book with coupons and deals to different restaurants, entertainment opportunities and stores in Ventura County. The membership costs $30 and the school gets $11 for every one sold.
The money raised from the fundraiser will go to paying for the Renaissance rallies and shirts, Spirit Weeks, athletics, Air Guitar and going to Magic Mountain if 87 percent of students make Rennaissance, according to Lindsey.
Prior to the conclusion of the fundraiser, Lindsey hypothesized about what could happen if the goal was not met.
“Worst case scenario, if we don’t make enough money to cover our budget, one of the things we might do is have kids who refused to sell or refused to attempt to sell any books they might have to buy their Renaissance shirts if they wanted one,” Lindsey said.
“So it’s an if/then, might/maybe, hasn’t happened. It was not an absolute, it was worst case scenario discussion.”
The possibility of having the students that refused to sell an Axxess membership purchase their Renaissance shirt complies with the California state law AB1575 that enforces free education.
“We are allowed to sell t-shirts as they are not required for anything. You don’t have to wear it to play a game or participate in anything,” Lindsey said.
As of now, ASB is deciding what part of the budget they are going to cut, as the fundraiser raised less than they hoped.
Because ASB cannot charge for parking anymore, this new fundraiser is the main way ASB collects funds for student activities and celebrations.
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Lindsey’s goal for the Axxess fundraiser was to raise $8,000 which would cover the entirety of the planned budget for the year. When the fundraiser started, 534 students chose to take an Axxess book to sell, and 506 students refused to take one. This means that if every student who took a book also sold it, ASB would have made a little over $6,000, which would not have reachd the goal budget.
“A lot of students refused to take a book, so it’s going to be really difficult [to meet the budget],” Ashlyn Laubacher, ASB Fundraising coordinator, said last week. “This is a fundraiser for them. If they don’t make money, then we can’t do rallies or anything for [the students].”
A few teachers also sold the Axxess memberships as well. Lindsey and Media Center Director Linda Kapala both sold Axxess memberships to contribute to the fundraiser.
Sophomore Ella Growdon-Stark chose to not sell an Axxess Book. “[My parents] would rather just donate money to the school because only $11 goes to the school,” Growdon-Stark said .
Freshman Nick Zoll sold an Axxess book, “I chose to sell [an Axxess book] because the fundraisers help make money for important and fun things at Foothill.”
ASB member Alaina Hooks “was not exactly shocked” when the fundraiser didn’t reach its goal.
However, Sam Visser, sophomore and ASB member, agrees with Lindsey.
“I am a little bummed that there wasn’t as much participation as ASB anticipated. However this year was an improvement from last year,” Visser said.
Lindsey said she is not “trying to pain the students,” and that she only “wants to benefit their school year and have activities for the students.”
Featured Photo Credit: Grace Carey/The Foothill Dragon Press
