A few days ago (25 Feb. 2012) I went to talk to Chick-Fil-la. When I went in I asked for the manager. When Mr. Bennett came out I told him what I was doing and I gave him my People To People letter that says that I have been accepted to be a representative of this program.  He told me what he could do, like I could sell cows that say GO LIONS!, or I could sell some of their goodies.  He was very kind and very supportive. I am waiting to here back with their decision.  Then I went to a skating rink called Sparkles, I did the same thing but got a different response. She told me that she could possibly give me some coupons to pass around at school so when they came I could get earn a dollar.  She said that she had to talk to the owner over fundraisers. She was also very nice and supportive.

Today (28 Feb. 2012) I went to Magnolia Bakery Cafe.  My principals secretary, Ms.Odonnell, suggested this place because they always are looking for things to do with my middle school. When I talked to the manager, Mr.Webb, he told me that he could not sponsor me.  He then read my sponsor letter and noticed one of the things I was doing to raise my tuition was baking.  He said what he would do for me was I could have the left over baked treats at the end of the day for me to sell on my own.  He also said that I could keep on coming and getting his left overs for as long as I would like.  I told him Thank you So Much!   I was so grateful for his generosity.  He was very supportive and happy for me.

(Updated March 16, 2012)  My baking sales at school went good.  I went early every Tuesday through Friday morning to set up a cart of the goodies that I had received the previous night from Magnolia Bakery Cafe.  I had to leave my 8th period class early to get the jar of donations and the leftovers.  Last week, I sold my goodies for $1 and I was not doing great, but I was at least selling some everyday.  This week I have sold them for $.50.  They have been selling okay, but not what I had hoped.  My Wednesday morning sale (March 14th) there was a lot of cinnamon rolls and buns.  All of them sold except two.  My mom was busy and forgot to get my Wednesday pickup so I didn't sell any on Thursday.  When she went to pick up on Thursday they had saved the ones we forgot.  So I had two days worth to sell on Friday.  On Friday, one box sold and I had leftovers that I shared.  I didn't want them to go bad.  I enjoyed the experience.  I thought it was a lot of hard work for my family and me.  Total from March 1 - 16, I made $45.00 that goes toward my tuition.  Thank you so much Magnolia Bakery and Ms. O’Donnell at Hull Middle School.  Kaitlyn:)

Next I went to the Waffle House across the street from Magnolia. When I went in I asked for the manager.  He came out and I was so tongue tied. I thought I sounded ridiculous because I did not know what I was suppose to say.  I then felt my face go red and myself begin to talk slower.  I told him that I had heard from a friend that they do spirit nights or fundraisers.  He said that he did.  He also said that he was not over that part so he asked me for my phone number so we could hear back about what we could do.  Later, I went to Kroger to see if they would sponsor me.  I went in and asked to see the manager.  They said that she was with another customer and asked if I had something to give her.  I gave her my letters and she gave them to the manager. The manager came up and she asked me where my school was. I told her where it was. She told me that they use to be able to give sponsorships, but now they could not because of the economy. Then we told her that I was doing a service project where I had to get all the supplies that I needed for lunches and prepare them. Then I would go out and deliver the lunches to people in need. She then told me that she could give me gift certificates to buy the ingredients to make the lunches.  All she needed was a letter on the schools letter head with a request for the ingredients.  I told her Thank you for trying to help me.

I want to thank Magnolia Bakery Cafe (Mr. Webb), Chick-fil-la (Mr. Bennett), Sparkles (Ms.Mauldin), Kroger (Ms. Murphy),  and Waffle House for taking the time to listen to what I had to say and all your support.  I can't wait to hear back from them and all that I can do to help advertise for them too.

Kaitlyn :)