An Oak Park father and daughter have teamed up to start a company that offers a healthy alternative for aspiring fundraisers.
Go! Go! Go! Fundraising provides two flavors of energy bars — crunchy peanut butter and chocolate chip — that can be sold for organization fundraisers.
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Angie Maguire, director of sales for Go! Go! Go!, said her dad, Paul Beckwith, an Oak Park resident who’s been in the food brokerage business for years, brought up the idea about a year ago.
The energy and nutrition bar business has grown significantly over the past year, said company founder Beckwith, and the bars come in handy with the speed of family life.
After finding no other company that offered something similar, Beckwith said they decided to run with the idea.
“We knew there was a growing need for a healthy fundraising option,” said Maguire, who also lives in Oak Park and works as a nurse.
The Go! Go! Go! bars are similar to what people are already buying for their families, and offer a more nutritious fundraising option than chocolate bars or cookie dough, Maguire said, so why not have students sell them to raise money?
“There’s stricter school nutrition requirements, so we want to meet those as well,” she said.
The bars, made by Canadian company Nutri-Nation, are 70 percent organic and have a healthy balance of protein, fiber and carbohydrates, Maguire said.
“It’s a good product and it’s consumable for adults and children,” Maguire said, adding that the product is identical to a Clif Bar. “You’re buying them at the store anyway.”
The product was ready in mid-October, and Oak Park and River Forest High School teams like girls’ water polo, girls’ soccer and boys’ lacrosse have sold the bars to fundraise.
About 150 fundraisers are held at OPRF each year, Beckwith said. Beth Perez, coach of the girls’ water polo team at OPRF, said she appreciates that Go! Go! Go! offers a healthier fundraising alternative.
“I was excited about that, promoting something that’s a little bit better for the girls and their families, and something they can eat on the way to games,” Perez said.
Every box sold makes $6 for the team, and during a recent fundraiser, the girls’ water polo team sold 67 boxes, Perez said.
Perez said the money raised goes toward dinner and gifts for the girls for senior night, end-of-season awards and equipment items that weren’t budgeted for.
Another aspect Maguire said they’re excited to offer is the ability to track fundraising sales online through an automated system. And those selling can send friends and family a link to purchase bars, to eliminate door-to-door selling if desired.
A Go! Go! Go! app is in development currently, Maguire added.
“People are on the go and we want to make it easy,” she said.
Although they’ve kicked things off in the Oak Park and River Forest area, Maguire said they hope to take sales nationwide, with team members in Kentucky, Arizona and more states to come.
“We’ve learned people really want to try our bar before,” Maguire said. “We’ve been around and we’re getting out there.”
Maguire added she’s enjoyed working with her father, who’s a great brainstormer and great connector.
“It adds another layer to our relationship,” Beckwith said.
For more information, visit http://www.gogogofundraising.com
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.Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.