Food Fight Fundraiser

In Lawrence, New Jersey, it was the ultimate food fight, a chocolate lover’s dream and a neat-freak’s nightmare. But for the 670 people who participated, it meant much more. The Lawrenceville School hosted the potentially record-breaking chocolate custard pie fight at a campus field — fittingly called “The Bowl” — hoping not only to earn a spot in the Guinness World Records, but also to raise money for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). Armed with 1,541 confectionery bombs, the battle — fought by the school’s students and faculty — raged well over five minutes. Participants paid $4 each for the chance to pummel their peers with the tasty weapons, and, combined with other donations from campus organizations and independent contributors, the fight generated around $10,000 for TASK.

Win or lose (the record), they still had a great time. The event was planned and run entirely by the students, who were also responsible for baking the pies. That alone took four days, broken into one- to two-hour shifts. To make the pies, 6 ounces of custard were measured out diligently for each graham cracker crust — a stipulation set by Guinness.

Other students worked the four registration tables, where the strategy of how to best handle the two pies each participant was allowed to throw, was a hot topic. “You have to throw the first pie early, then hold on to the second one,” said a student who was working at one of the tables. “If someone looks clean, they’re getting that second pie thrown at them,” added another registration worker. When all was said and done, many of the students shed their chocolate-covered shirts, which read “Breaking a World Record? Easy as Pie.” They collected the shoes they had set to the side to spare them from the battle and headed to the showers.

Another Food Fight: Cache Valley, California residents hold food fight fundraiser to benefit a local teenager who is fighting a brain tumor. At the fundraiser, participants had a chocolate syrup slip-n-slide, spaghetti dunk tank, 1,000 pounds of food and four giant downhill slip-n-slides. It cost $5 to get into the food fight, $10 to ride all the slip-n-slides. A VIP ticket was $15 and includes a T-shirt, free drinks and raffle entries for businesses around the valley.

We have included a number of do-it-yourself fundraising ideas in this section that offer a break from traditional product sales. They were developed by groups just like yours in an attempt have a little fun with their fundraiser. Some of them are tried and true while others show a lot of creativity … and even wackiness in some cases. All of them are obviously not appropriate for every group, but sometimes, with only a little modification, your might find some fund raising ideas that are perfect for your group. If you have an idea for a do-it-yourself fund raiser you are willing to share with others, please send it to us via email. Include anything and everything you would want to know if you were hearing the idea for the first time.