One of the student "veterans" on our team, Dave Laird, has some really good connections in the local NE Ohio rock music scene, and he's put together two great fundraising concerts for Team 48 - FIRST Aid and FIRST Aid II. The first concert was staged at the local Knights of Columbus for a modest price, and security was provided at a reduced cost by a couple Trumbull County sheriff's deputies (it pays to have a student whose uncle is a deputy). Dave arranged to have three local rock bands came and play for free. The team's parent booster club sold food and drink, and a local business donated an electric guitar, which we raffled off. Charging $5.00 per ticket, overall, the team made around $1400 on the event.
The principal of Warren G. Harding High School, Mr. Mullane, was so impressed with FIRST Aid, that he offered the use of the school Auditorium free of charge for FIRST Aid II, and he paid for the event's security. The sound system (which was, as I recall, mind-numbingly LOUD - a thing of sonic beauty) was loaned to us for half price. Dave arranged for four rock bands to appear at that concert, we charged $6.00 per ticket, and this time, Team 48 made around $1600. For FIRST Aid III, if Dave can land some even bigger names, there's been some talk of renting out a concert hall in Cleveland and staging the next concert there. But there's some fun team business we have to take care of in Florida before we can address that....
It was great to see the students, teachers, parents, school administration and other members of the Warren community come together to organize the two FIRST Aid concerts for Team 48. It goes to show you what just one motivated kid can do to help his or her team out, especially when many other people get behind that kid and take the time to support the effort. If you have students like Dave or other team members who are connected to your local music scene, I think a concert would be a great way to raise funds for your team.
If you have any questions about how FIRST Aid was organized or are looking for suggestions on how to put together a concert of your own, I'm sure Dave and the others would be happy to help you out. Just send me an email at
travis.e.hoffman@delphiauto.com, and I'll forward your questions to them. I think the number one thing to remember when trying to raise funds is- don't be afraid to ask for help! We were amazed to see what people/businesses were willing to donate to us after we simply explained our situation to them and told them what we were trying to accomplish.
Good luck to all of you with your fundraising efforts!
Travis Hoffman
Engineer and 2nd Year Member of
Team 48 - Delphi E.L.I.T.E., Warren, OH
Encouraging Learning in Technology and Engineering since 1998