The Colonel's $5 Quick-Bite: The Quest for the Ideal Fundraiser

There is one rule in being a member of associations that never fails: If you do not want the tough assignments, do not miss meetings. Having forgotten due to a senior moment, I missed one critical board meeting. At that meeting I was chosen the fundraising committee chair for beloved UPAAH. There was no escape from this position.

Not having learned my lesson, I again missed another meeting (This time I had a real excuse: My email lost the messages from the President) and soon discovered the board had toyed with the idea of a “Huli-Huli” fundraiser. This spurred me to action.

Considering the economic climate and all the hard work associated with doing a Huli-Huli fundraiser, I searched for the “Ideal Fundraising Program” with two things in mind: simplicity and low cost. First came the Chili Fundraiser which is highly advertised and apparently very popular. Then came the not-too-well-known Napoleon Bakery fundraiser, followed by the Taco/Bell Pizza coupons. Upon searching the web, I found there were literally zillions of fundraising opportunities. There were a lot more than the trillions spent on the economic recovery plan (Don’t you love how I can easily make the issues political?). They were too mind-boggling to even pursue.

One board member told me she had tons of un-eaten chili tubs in her refrigerator, so we scratched the chili deal. I tried to tie it in with the Napoleon Bakery fundraiser but found out that, at Costco, you could get 5 more of those cakes for the same price. And then came the pizza deals. Those were fairly reasonable but all you got was a coupon. Perhaps on another fundraiser, we could try them.

Then out of nowhere (drum-roll please…) came the Kentucky Fried Chicken Deal. It was so simple and yet easily manageable that the Board did not hesitate to approve it. Ah, unanimously.

Here is how it works:

KFC will print any amount of Quick-Bite tickets we order. Unused tickets are considered sold so make sure you redeem your tickets, which are good for 12 weeks from issue date. This means you do not have to redeem your tickets and fill your refrigerator with buckets of food all at once! And it is convenient: tickets are redeemable at every Kentucky shop all over the state except Makaloa (near Ala Moana) and Don Quijote (near Pagoda Hotel).

The $5 Quick-Bite package includes: two-piece regular or extra crispy chicken leg & thigh, a biscuit and a small mash potato with gravy. This is a complete (sort of) meal by itself. KFC also includes a coupon good for 6 months that provides a discount up to $10.00 on other purchases as follows: $1.00 off the 3 pc. meal, $2.00 off the 10 pc. meal and $3.00 off the 16 pc. meal and a free kids lap top popcorn popper with any purchase of a 3 pc. meal or larger item.

Because of the mailing and processing cost, we request that sales be made in 10-ticket batches. To reduce our mailing costs, would you please come to the picnic on August 29, and pick up your batch of tickets?

It’s a good deal. Take the family and kids out a couple of times and you would have already used up your tickets. The discounts alone pay for the cost. And most of all, you are helping UPAAH fund our community service projects.

Why not buy a ticket or two yourself? Make it 10 and you’ve got yourself an ideal KFC deal!

by Jun Rivera, Fundraising Committee Chair

August 29 Summer Get-together in Hoomaluhia

There is soooo much to look forward to at our annual summer get-together!

First of all, visiting the Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden is always a visual and emotional treat. Its calm environs is sparked alive by the presence of our UPAA-H crowd – our laughing keikis and happily reminiscing alums! President Alma Phocas, who works as supervisor in this beautiful nature retreat, made possible our come-back to this site.

Once again, our keikis will be treated to a fishing derby at the nearby stream. Do you remember our clumsy attempts at hooking fish baits (read: pieces of pan de sal) for the keikis while they were eagerly anticipating their catch? Do you still have the pictures of the “biggest,” “most colorful,” “smallest” catch? These are where the fishing tales begin!

Meanwhile, the adults will be back in the pavilion. There will much laughter as we all try to catch up with goings on in our families. There will be games as groups outsmart, outplay, outguess each other trying to win prizes as well. There will also be BINGO! where winning will be fun but losing can be fun, too, if you are in the company of friends, munching goodies from what we always anticipate to be a fantastic potluck spread.

To better coordinate our activities, your friendly Board of Directors and Board of Advisers divvied up the alumni list into 14 groups. Each group was assigned a coordinator, either a current BOD member or a past president. Each group, herein identified with its coordinator, was assigned to contribute the following to the potluck:

Group 1- Debs: Heavy pupus

Group 2- Alma: Poultry Main dish

Group 3 - Rose: Seafood Main dish

Group 4- Bea: Dessert

Group 5- Lilia: Veggie Main dish

Group 6- Ime: Starch

Group 7- Carolyn: Veggie Main dish

Group 8-Jun R: Meat Main dish

Group 9- Don: Veggie salads

Group 10- Jon: Pupus

Group 11- Jane: Starch

Group 12- Dennis: Drinks

Group 13- Delmar: Dessert

Group 14- Homer: Drinks

Just looking at the list and dreaming of the potluck leaves me hungry! We have always been famous for our potlucks, ladies and gentlemen; we have only ourselves to top, so let’s show us what wonderful gastronomic delights we can dazzle ourselves with again this time!

So, once again:

WHAT: UPAA-H Annual Summer Get-together

WHEN: August 29, 2009, 10 AM to 3 PM

WHERE: Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden, Luluku Road,

Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744

Check out this Hoomaluhia website for directions and info:

: Http://www.honolulu.gov/parks/hbg/hmbg.htm

Hasta la vista!

By Debs Telan Robillard, Programs Committee Chair