Area schools to hold mattress fundraisers

Elgin High School and MacArthur Middle School will be having sweet dreams during their Mattress Fundraisers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 12-13.

Elgin’s sale will be at their Performing Arts Center, 520 K St., while Mac’s sale will be in the Cafeteria, 510 Northeast 45th St. Elgin’s proceeds will go to the band, while Mac’s will go towards the athletic department.

Employees from Custom Fundraising Solutions act as sales representatives showing the many options and sizes of beds in stock, according to a previous article. After the sale, the mattress is custom made to the customer’s liking and delivered to them within two to three weeks. Similar to an ordinary mattress store such as Mattress Firm or Mattress King. There are also options to ship anywhere in Oklahoma. They not only sell mattresses, they also sell pillows, mattress toppers, sheets and even bean bags. They sell mattresses from big name brands such as Purple, Helix, Beautyrest and Serta.

Elgin High School:

Elgin has been doing mattress fundraisers for seven years.

“We turn the lobby of the PAC into a showroom,” Mike Palmer, Elgin band director said. “The company that we work with, they bring samples of all different types of mattresses, from twin to California Kings, and different firmnesses and softnesses. You can come in here, test them out and purchase a mattress. Every purchase will go to our program.”

CFS has been in the fundraising business for 30 years, Palmer said.

“The guy that founded the company, he thought, ‘Hey, what’s a great way to fundraise for schools and be a unique way for someone to buy that they’re going to need anyways that can do both,’” Palmer said. “They don’t have a brick and mortar store. This is all they do, they work with groups through schools so they can keep their prices low on their end, but at the same time can offer fundraising monies to programs that participate.”

Palmer reached out to CFS first.

“I heard about it from other band directors in the state that have used it,” Palmer said. “They said it was very successful, so I thought, ‘Hey, let’s give it a try.’”

Both Elgin and Mac plan to raise $5,000. Elgin usually gets close to exceeding that expectation.

“Sometimes we’re a little over and sometimes we’re a little bit below,” Palmer said. “But that’s been our average.”

Typically, students and their family spread the word beforehand, the article said. Palmer and David Holland, the athletic coordinator for Mac Middle, said the students get something special if they are referred by other people.

MacArthur Middle School:

As this is the first mattress sale they are doing, Holland decided to help all the athletic programs at the school.

“We’re kind of excited, but also a little nervous to see how it pans out,” Holland said.

He doesn’t expect much though.

“My hopes are high,” Holland said. “I hope that we have a good turnout and that we far exceed our goal of $5,000, which goes back into helping all the sports. Whether it be uniforms, equipment, all that kind of stuff.”