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Welcome to the new school year!  Each year the PTO supports the school community by providing financial assistance for social events, academic enrichment, cultural events, scholarships as well as classroom and playground improvement.

• Voluntary Direct Donations.  We welcome donations of any amount at any time!  This year, we are a non-profit organization, so any monetary donations will be recorded and tax-deductible. 
• Florida Fruit Sales.  In October, we sent out forms to order citrus fruit. Paper orders are due by Oct. 26; online orders (http://bit.ly/ThoreauFruit) will be taken until Oct. 31. Out-of-area relatives can order it online at http://bit.ly/ThoreauFruit and have it sent directly to their homes! The fresh fruit will arrive in mid-November, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Thanks to parent, Robbie Yates, for organizing this fundraiser.  For more information, contact Robbie atThoreauPTO@gmail.com.
• Square 1 Art Fundraiser.  Imagine your child’s brilliant artwork on coffee mugs, notecards and other products!  Order forms will be sent home the week of November 1, product delivery during the week of December 6 – just in time for the holidays!  Special thanks to Andy Mayhall for integrating this into the art program. For information, contact Jenice Con Foo at ThoreauPTO@gmail.com.
• Coffee Thoreau Thursdays.  Every Thursday, we will be selling coffee by the cup for $2.  Bring your coffee mug to drop off and stay for coffee talk.  Special thanks to parent, JJ Kilmer, owner of Indie Coffee Cafe on Regent Street for enabling us to have these mornings!
• Barnes and Noble nights. On December 10 and April 24, your purchases those days and any online purchases that week will help us build our PTO general fund.

Our year-round fundraising efforts include these Thoreau Elementary School products

• Smencils.  We will be selling these smelly pencils at our events (Coffee Thursdays as well). They are $1 for one pencil.  They are made from 100% recycled newspapers and come in several scents including Root Beer, Very Berry, Grape, Watermelon, Cinnamon, Black Cherry, Orange, Bubble Gum, Tropical Blast and Cotton Candy. If you would like to take a tub to work, please contact Thoreaupto@gmail.com.
• Earth Swag. These are fabric snack bags ($16 for two) and sandwich wraps ($12 for one) that will help us reduce the amount of trash we contribute to landfills. We will be taking orders for these and lunch kits that include a snack bag, a sandwich wrap, a stainless steel water bottle and a lunch bag ($36) at our events until Nov. 1. For more information, email us!
• Thoreau Elementary Cookbook.  Over 150 tasty, road-tested recipes submitted by the school community.  Great value, awesome recipes for only $10!  Cookbooks available in the school office.
• Thoreau Elementary T-Shirts.  Order forms for t-shirts (both Men’s cut, Women’s fitted and children’s) and for hooded sweatshirt will be coming in backpack mail in late October.

We also have the following programs which involve no cost to you!

• Collect Box Tops!  Just snip those specially marked box tops and send them in your child's classroom. This year, in conjunction with Pump It Up of Madison, our school classes have the opportunity to win prizes for collecting the most Box Tops. The prizes will be given out three times this year.  Each time the classroom who collects the most during a certain period of time will receive one of these three prizes: 

• Shop @ Amazon.com.  Raise money for Thoreau School by shopping at Amazon.com Each item you purchase using the search field or banner links on www.thoreauschool.org  provide a cash donation of up to 15%. 
• Target Card.  You can designate Thoreau Elementary school as a beneficiary school on your Target credit card.  1% of your purchases are donated to the school.

PTO fundraising success depends on YOU!  There are many ways you can help – support the fundraising products and/or volunteer for an event.  If you have any questions, please leave a message in the PTO mailbox.