The first Reagan Community Marketplace was held on May 18, 2019 at the school to help support the the Reagan sports’ teams. The event was a family affair that included a dunking booth, food, and vendors.
The event was held as a fundraiser for Reagan and was overall a large success thanks to the help of coaches, players, and the open public.
“A lot of people attended the event,” said sophomore Andrew Jones. “It was a very friendly environment for all age groups and overall was a large success.”
The unique thing about the event was that along with the school sports teams, the public could also purchase a parking spot and sell any items out of their cars or tents. All of the money raised at the sports team spots went directly to the respective program.
“The idea was to essentially have a big yard sale on the campus,” said head football coach, Josh McGee. “People could pay $50 for a parking spot and bring any of their own items to get rid of.”
The money from the purchased parking spot went directly to support the athletic booster club.
The football team took their parking spot to the next level with an entertainment factor by renting a dunking booth that coach McGee and several players took turns getting dunked in.
The Community Marketplace was a very interesting spin on fundraising and was a good way to get the public involved with the school as well as get away from the typical door-to-door selling or e-mailing that most fundraisers include. However, there were a couple things that could have been done better about the event.
“This idea could be an awesome idea moving forward into future years,” said McGee. “In order for it to me more successful, though, we need to do a better job of advertising the event and getting the word out to everyone.”
This is typical with most events of this type and with each growing year of experience, the event will have chances to become better each year. Overall, the marketplace could be a fundraising staple for Reagan Athletics for years to come.