02/27/15 – Upbeat Updates (Jazz ‘n Cakes – Ticket and Event Information)

Help us raise money for ALL our bands through Jazz ‘N Cakes!  Each family is asked to sell 5 tickets to the Jazz’n Cakes Breakfast, our 2nd largest fundraiser for the Lakota West Bands.  We encourage you to pay for these tickets when you pick them up at the Main Campus and Freshman Concerts on March 2nd and 3rd.  Although our jazz bands provide the entertainment for this event, as they do for Swing Dance, the funds raised by this event go to support ALL our bands.  Selling tickets in advance helps maximize our attendance.  Having a well attended event is critical to making our basket raffle, car driving, and vendor segments of the fundraiser work – which allows us to raise a lot of funds from the outside community.

What is Jazz ‘N Cakes? – Jazz ‘N Cakes is a Pancake Breakfast event featuring live entertainment by our junior high, freshman, and high school jazz bands.  In addition to an excellent hot breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs with juice, coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate, Jazz ‘N Cakes also features more than 50 baskets in a basket raffle with everything from driving school to Walt Disney world tickets, vendors, and the opportunity to test drive a new Buick and make money for the band.

Where does the money go?  Jazz ‘N Cakes supports all of our band students by providing funding for many items Upbeat Club funds year after year – honorariums for guest conductors for both concert and jazz bands, solo and ensemble recital commentators, scholarships for marching band financial need and for senior recognition, skyline and other recognition events for excellence, and many other items.  It also helps fund basic administrative expenses for the Upbeat Club – things like website support, tax filing costs, paypal fees, and so on.

How much money do we make through this event? – Jazz ‘N Cakes is second only to Tag Day as a fundraiser.  We typically raise a little over $10,000 through this event.

What are the ways we make money at Jazz ‘N Cakes?

  • Pancake breakfast:
  • Basket Raffle: Many donated items are packaged into great baskets for our basket raffle.  Basket raffle tickets are available 1 for $1, 6 for $5, or 15 for $10.
  • Vendor tables: Vendors rent tables on the “Main Street Market”, contributing to our fundraising.
  • Car Driving: Buick will be providing cars to test drive and donating $10 to the Upbeat Club for the first 100 test drives, then $20/car for every test drive over 100 up to a maximum of $10,000.  If all of our Lakota West Band parents drive a car, we should be able to make $10,000!

How can I help?

  • Sell at least 5 tickets – ask for more if you need them.  Remember – bringing people in also increases basket raffle sales and car driving donations!
  • Encourage others to attend – we sell tickets at the door also
  • Volunteer to help: Sign-ups for Jazz ‘N Cakes will be posted on sign-up genius and advertised through the e-mail blasts beginning in mid-March.  Student signups will be posted at both the main campus and freshman schools.