The bouncy house in River Grove School’s cafeteria was one of several fun activities available at the school recently.
On Feb. 6, the River Grove School Parent Teacher Association had its annual Family Fun Fair at the school. Hundreds of children and adults filled the school that evening to participate in the event.
Admission was $1 and tickets were purchased by participants to take part in dozens of games, face painting and raffles. The $1,300 raised from the event will help the school pay for its various activities.
Maureen Deahl, president of the River Grove School PTA, said the money is used to help the teachers pay for supplies for their individual rooms.
“A lot of them request money for magazine subscriptions,” she said. “Sometimes they would like a couple hundred dollars to pay for field trips, things beyond the school’s budget.”
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At the start of the event, the teachers and staff donate an hour of their time to oversee the various games and booths at the event and then volunteers take over after that.
Molly Puttin, whose two children go to River Grove School, worked the raffle table where people can buy raffle tickets and take a chance at winning prizes from tickets to sporting events to dinners at local restaurants.
This is her third year volunteering at the fun fair.
“It’s great to see all of the families out,” she said. “It’s a great event.”
The school’s music organization, which supports the school’s band, was giving away free slices of cheesecake from Gourmet Cheesecake Delight out of Elk Grove Village. Lauren Parsons, president of the organization, had slices of various kinds of cheesecake set out on tables in the school cafeteria for anyone to sample.
She said it’s her way to stimulate sales for her organization’s upcoming fundraiser. At that event, people purchase pies with a portion of the sales going to the school’s music program.
“We have these available for people to sample so they will be ready for our fundraiser,” she said. “All the money raised goes back to help buy instruments, buy uniforms for the band, whatever they need.”
Evelyn Lopez brought her daughter Delanie Lopez, who is in the seventh grade, to the event. She was working the snow cone stand at the event.
She likes volunteering because it sets a good example for her daughter.
“It’s good that your children see you interacting and volunteering,” she said. “I’ve been volunteering for a few years here. It’s nice and you meet new people.”
Cindy Dumas brings her children to the event because it’s good clean fun for them.
“It’s great and it’s not too expensive and the kids can run free,” she said. “It’s a safe event.”