Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Spaghetti Dinner - A Post of Its Own

Soon after we moved here, Becky and I were asked by the Stake to put on a Spaghetti Take-out Dinner Fundraiser for Young Women. It was a ton of work, and a huge success.

Here's the deal: We figured that in order to make the amount of money we needed, the YW would need to sell 800 dinners. So, we decided to set our goal at 1,000 dinners. That meant that each YW needed to sell 10 dinners. And if they fell a little short, it would be okay because we really only needed 800.

Well, when we collected all the orders, they tallied up to 1,300 dinners! Thirteen HUNDRED meals! That is a huge amount of food. So, Becky and I had our work cut out for us.

We did 2 pick up dinners on 2 nights. One night we fed 850 people, the next night about 400 came through.



Shopping trip at Costco on the day of the first dinner. On the receipt: 36 bags of rolls (each with 3 dozen rolls), 65 BIG bags of salad, and 100 lbs. of tomatoes.

Becky and I cooked 200 servings of spaghetti on the mornings of both dinners. This worked out really well because we just poored boiling water over the cold noodles. This brought them back to life! Each ward brought enough cooked pasta for 50 people, and then we cooked a bunch as the evening went on.

We have 10 kids between the 2 of us, and 2 toddlers who have a love/hate relationship. On the 2 days of the fundraiser, we kept various kids home from school to entertain the little ones.

Nothing like a spaghetti picnic!

Have you ever mixed enough salad to feed nearly 900 people? Well, neither had we. We really had to think out of the box...and came up with this great idea: a kiddie swimming pool. It worked out swimmingly, if I do say so myself:)


All and all, it was a great success. The nights went on without a hitch. I am glad it turned out and I am even more glad it is over! Too bad we won't be here next year - I think we just might have gotten into a yearly fundraiser!

12 comments:

Laura Keith said...

That is AWESOME Kimmie! Wow... I never would have thought of a kiddie pool...you were definitely inspired! I love it! YC Stake should do this with their YW!

Big Mama said...

All I gotta say is... Whoa! You guys did a great job! Sooo... was it easier than egg rolls?

Jeff and Kandis said...

Holy Cow Kimmie that looks crazy!

We do a auction dinner night with our YW and it works out great too! They pay for the dinner and then we auction off desserts and service after wards. It's always a hit!

Laurie said...

That is seriously amazing! I don't know of anyone else who could have pulled that off!

Victoria said...

Wow, Kimmie. I have to say, I have never seen anyone mix salad in a kiddie swimming pool. That is crazy. I have catered a lot of stuff, but that is a monstrous undertaking...what you did. I am impressed!!!

Anonymous said...

Wait, wait, wait...what do you mean you won't be here next year?

8RebB8 said...

Good times. I don't know how I've managed to sleep this past week without my habitual pre-spaghetti dinner nightmares. And there is no way I could have done this with anyone else. Kimmie rocked it. She will also be flying/driving back here to do this should I/we be asked to do this again.

LA VIDA said...

Kimmie!!! You are amazing!!!!

TFL said...

Oh my gosh that's the funniest thing i have ever seen! It made me laugh out loud. LOL if you will. Good work!

The Joslyn Family said...

Wow, Impressive!! I love all the new posts. Hope to see you this summer!!

The Duckers said...

Kimmie, I was in ABSOLUTE shock while I was reading this!!!! Along with shock about the 1st grade and kindergarten thing. That is just too crazy.
I am in amazement at what you pulled off with the spaghetti dinner. It's NUTS what you did!
Why won't you be around next year to do it again?

Emily said...

Hey! It's good to see your cute family and a little of what you have been up to.
I can't believe you cooked that much food! You are so amazing!