My son is a junior in high school this year and there are several schools around the nation that participate in sending their juniors to Washington DC in the spring. This is called “Close Up” and this year, I get to experience it.
This is such a great opportunity for the kids. Some may never leave their town, let alone the state, so for them to participate in Close Up may be their only chance to see something great like our nation’s capitol. And, although this is a fabulous thing they are doing, let me tell you, it don’t come easy!
All summer long, mom, dad, and kid spent every weekend in a concession stand, feeding various attendees of whatever event we held. They all blur together after a while, so I can’t remember which weekend we served the bikers, which weekend we served the accordion festival, or which weekend we served the art and jazz festival. All I remember is I didn’t get a chance to see any of it because I stuck in the booth.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s all for a great cause, I get that. But holy cow! I worked, on average, about 16 hours a week inside a concession booth, all to earn money for my son to go to DC. Add that to my day job, which already demanded 50-60 hours per week, and then my writing, which demands my attention all the time, and I’m exhausted!
We still don’t have enough money in his account for him to go, so even though I’ve been busting my hump earning money for him, I’ll still have to fork out some dough. Oh, goodie.
Why am I telling you all of this? I’m hoping another parent out there has gone through this and can offer me words of advice. Do I stop busting my butt at the concessions and just pay the difference? We’ve put in, between the three of us, hundreds if not thousands of hours, and we have just now hit the halfway point on the money we need. I’m frustrated. Not only have I neglected my writing this year to work in a concession stand, but all of that time I spent away from my characters still didn’t give me enough money to send my boy.
Has anyone else done Close Up? What did you do for fund raisers? Does anyone else have any ideas on what we can do fast to make money? We need to have everything paid by April.
Thanks so much and happy days!
~Allie K. Adams, also w/a Eve Adams
www.alliekadams.com
alliekadams@blackfoot.net
Wall Post 
Loading ...
HI Allie!
I wish I could be of more helpl, but I don’t know anything about the program. What I can offer is a huge kudos though! I really admire your determination and thoughtfulness. I’m sure your son appreciates your efforts, too. I think it’s amazing the three of you pulled together. That is something to really be proud of!
I wish you all the best!
I participated in Close Up twice in high school. It IS an amazing experience, and I wouldn’t take it back for anything. My memory is that we sold candy bars in school to earn the money. I don’t know if that’s still allowed in schools. Any money that I received for gifts or allowance or babysitting went toward my trip. I didn’t have extras while I was trying to earn the money. I can’t remember what else we did. I don’t know how much it costs to do now. Perhaps your son could do a neighborhood campaign of shoveling sidewalks or mowing lawns or selling brownies or something along with a sign saying that the money is going toward his Close Up trip?
Twitter: KrisKennedy
says:
It sounds like a great program, but I suppose there’s a personal ‘tipping point’ for every family, where they’ve just done all they can. That sounds like an awful lot of hours.
I don’t know what the concession stand is, but I wonder if a different job would work better for your son. Wintertime (depending on where you live) things like shoveling snow, etc , and in summertime, lawn work, etc. for neighbors might add up more quickly, and be earmarked for the trip.
Hope you figure out what works best for you!