Why introduce healthy fundraising?

Fundraising is a regular activity undertaken by school communities. Money generated through fundraising provides crucial resources for our students, contributes to strong communities and provides children with opportunities to develop valuable skills and knowledge.

School fundraising activities can be a great opportunity to promote a healthy lifestyle to the whole school community. Selling confectionery and unhealthy snack foods sends the wrong message to students, especially when most schools now have healthy nutrition initiatives.

Chocolates, biscuits, donuts and pie drives are typical examples. The promotion and sale of confectionery and high saturated fat, high sugar foods for profit is counter-productive to healthy eating messages within the curriculum and school environment. Healthy eating policies across the school community can improve student learning and concentration and well as help them develop healthy habits and behaviours.

In a wider context, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. In fact, in 2010, they released global resolution 63.14 – Recommendations on marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children.

Recommendation 5 says:
“Settings where children gather should be free from all forms of marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, or salt. Such settings include, but are not limited to, nurseries, schools, school grounds and pre-school centres, playgrounds, family and child clinics and paediatric services and during any sporting and cultural activities that are held on these premises.”

Healthy fundraising can:

•    Make money for your school, whilst promoting health and well-being
•    Provide positive role-modelling to students and families
•    Demonstrate to the school community that the school values student health and support classroom learning
•    Involve the whole school community and develop school cohesion
•    Support other community initiatives designed to improve health and well-being.
•    Assist students in developing citizenship skills.

(Taken from Healthy Fundraising ideas for ACT School Communities)