FULLY GUARANTEED

Cheese ^Whiz

Former FFA proficiency winner pursued his project into a career.

When was ^{Tim Novak}

growing

up

in

Denmark,

Wisconsin, he representeda dairysupply

company. "He went

aroundcalling

on

people

— most

of his job

was

sales. I thought,

'You

couldn'tpay

me

^tohave hisjob."'

Tim laughs

at that

memory

today.

As owner and

sole

employee

of

Novak Cheese

in

Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tim

spends

much

ofhis

day

calling

on FFA

chapters, bands,

language

clubs,

Kiwanis

and

other non-profit organiza- tionsthatarelookingfor

new

ideas for raising funds. Since 1976,

Tim's com- pany

hasbeen providing such groups with Wisconsincheeses,cheese spreads

and

sausagesa alternativefundraising items.

Cheese

has always beena big partof

Tim's

life.He,his parents,

two

brothers andfoursisterswereactivelyinvolvedin the family'scheesebusiness.

"The

cheese factory

was

attachedtothehouse,soI

had

aninterest in

cheesemaking from

thetime

I

was

veryyoung," henotes.

Tim

spentalotoftime observingthe expertiseofhis father,William,

and

learn- ing

from

him. During high school, he logged over 4,300 hourstraininginthe cheesefactory.

By

thetimehe

was

18,

Tim had become one

of the youngest licensedcheesemakersinWisconsin,

and

then

became

an

American Cheese

Grader.

This

meant

thathe

was

qualifiedinall aspects ofthe business,

from

the farm pick-up ofthemilk, to

making

cheese,to thepackaging anddeliveryofcheese.

Hisdedication

was

rewardedin an- otherway:in1975,

Tim won

the national

FFA

proficiency

award

in Agricultural Processing.

He

saysthatbuildinghisbusiness

from

scratch

wasn

'teasy;

"you

can'tjust

punch

in,

punch

out

and go home." Tim

started with

two

products, amild anda sharp cheddar

from

hisdad'sfactory,and then

added

other items.

Some were

popular.

Novak won

the national Agricultural

Processing

proficiency

award

ⁱⁿ1975.

but"I

had

alotof itemsthat

most

people didn'tcarefor.I

went

through

and

stream- linedtothebig

demand

ones."

At

the

same

time,

Tim was

workingfor hisdadatthecheesefactory."Therewere days

when

I

would work from

5 a.m.to2 p.m.forDad,then

work on my

fundrais- ingbusiness

from

3p.m.to2a.m.,and thenstartalloveragain,"

Tim

remembers.

But

ashisbusinessskillswere growing, so

were

his

cheesemaking

skills.

He

pro-

duced

a pieceof cheddarthatplacedthird outof

233 worldwide

entriesinthe1980

World Championship Cheese

^Contest.

That

same

year,

Tim's

father sold his

cheesemaking

business,and

Tim

devoted hisfullattention to

Novak

Cheese.

Since 1980,the

company

has

grown

steadily.

He now works

with

FFA

chap- tersandotherfundraisersinninestates

from

Massachusettsto Montana,

and

is currently concentrating

on

building a customer base

on

thewestcoast.

Duringspringand

summer, Tim

does what he once thought he could never

do

—

he

makes

sales^callstopotentialcus- tomers,

and

follows

up

withgroups he has

worked

with.

Tim

offers the following advice to future

FFA

entrepreneurs:

"Do

something

you

enjoy doing.

Money

shouldn't be your

main

objective,or thethrillwillbe short-lived.Peoplewillreadrightthrough you.

And no

matter

what you

do,put your

whole

heart intoit.

You

willbea success."

FFA

New

Horizons

Creative Cash

(Continuedfrom page37)

The Glasgow,

Kentucky,

FFA

uses asystem

where

each

member

receives$5foreach 10cratesofcitrusheorshe sells.

The

topsalespersonreceivesanexpense paidtrip tothe national

FFA

conventionor$100.00incash.

The

second placethroughsixth placesellersgetcashfrom

$75

to$20.

Top

salespersons receive jackets.

In

One Door, Out the Other

Spending

money

isalwayseasier than raisingit.There so

many

importantplaces forittogo.

A

keyselling point to potentialcustomersisthatallthe

money

raisedby

FFA members

isinvestedindevelopingstudents, theschool

and

the

community.

Brad

Arens,reporterinDunning, Nebraska,says,

"Our

chapteruses the

money

raisedtosend

members

toofficer trainingand

young member

camps,state

and

nationalconven- tion,

and

topurchase

awards

forthe

members.

Accordingto

Emily

Kaeding,reporter for the Mississi-

nawa

Valley,Ohio,

FFA

Chapter,

"We

spend

money on many

differenttrips

and

chapteractivities.

We

usuallysendatleast

one

persontothe

Washington

Conference

Program

every year

which

costs thechapter around $350. National conven- tion will cost usabout$1,000the years that

we

go."Their

parent-member

banquetcosts thechapter around $1,000.

Other chapteractivitiesincludeanofficerretreat,state

camp,

acanoetrip,a

swimming

partyand chapter meetingrecrea- tion.Together,theseactivitiescostthechapteran average of

$550

a year.

Computer Link

Computers

have

made

therecordkeepingtaskof fund- raising^activitieseasierand

more

accurate. Sales recordscan bestoredinareliable,central location.Thereisa lesser chance of an accountingerror.Information can beretrieved quickly

which

can improve customerservice.

Angela McGhee,

reporter for

Couch FFA

inMyrtle,Mis- souri,says,"the disk

we recommend

forfundraisersisthe

"Sale

Manager" by

Hobar.Ithasreallyhelpedin

making

things easier."

The

Mississinawa, Ohio,

FFA

usesthe

AppleWorks

database

and

Visicaclespreadsheetsoftware programs.

Recordsarekept

on

file

from

yeartoyeardetailing the

amount

of

money

individualsdonatetothe

FFA

for theadsin thefallfair bulletin.

Clinton-Central, Indiana, sent

examples

of

how

theyused the

computer

tokeepfinancial records.

"We

usetheApple-

Works

spreadsheettokeep our budget, our

member

records

and

our

monthly

recordofreceipts

and

disbursements.

We

have developedthe basic structureofeach ofthese sheets

from

the

FFA

treasurer'sbook.

Our

chaptertreasurersare responsible for entering theinformation

on

variousforms.

The most

successful chaptersatfund-raising are those

who

getevery

member

involved,

who

trysomething

new

oncein awhilefor variety

and who

areprovidinga

community

service as partoftheir effort.Thereare

no

shortcutsinthe fund-raising business.Successisusually the resultofhard

work and

organization.

Juicy ^Profits!

Earn $3,000-$5,000 per truckload

sell-

ing the sweetest, best-tasting citrus ever.

People round the world know and value the unbeatable taste of our Florida and Indian River citrus. Your customers will definitely taste the difference. We pro- vide you

^all

the sales and promotional materials to make the ^sale an easy one.

And we ^offer our Unconditional 100%

Guarantee of Satisfaction. So call us today!

Seald^Sweet

Growers, Inc.

P.O. Box 6152, Vero Beach, Florida 32961

1-800-237-7525

u nd Raisers % ^{A C T IO N}

Virginia

Penny Ante

The

ClarkeCounty,Vir- ginia,

FFA

inBerryvilleis

highlyactive inlandscap- ingtheirschool.Thisisa fund-raising eventthatbringsin

$300

^-

$400

every year pluspromotes school

and

class pride.

They

set

up

four largejugsinthecafe- teriaduringlunch.

They

askallstudents todonatetheirextrapenniestothe"pen- nies forpines"jugs,

and

explain thatitis for the school landscapingprojects the

FFA

hassetup.

Studentsofthe class(freshmen, so-

phomore,

junior,senior)

which

hasthe

most

points(onepointperpenny)atthe

end

ofthe

two-week

time periodgetto keepallthe

money

they haveintheirjug fortheirclassfunds.

However,

ifapersonputssilvercoins or dollarbillsina jug,thiscountsagainst a classinterms of negative numbers.

The money

istakento a local

bank

every afternoontobecounted.

Announce-

ments

on

classstandings are

made

atthe

end

ofthedayoratthebeginning ofthe day.

Usually,thestudents getverygener- ous towardstheirgiving

when

announce-

ments

pita particular class against an- other. Also,towardsthe

end

ofthe

week

itisnot

uncommon

tosee students bring injars fullof penniestodonateto their class,or dollarbillspopping

up

inthe leadingclass'jug.

(Randy

Buckley,Presi- dent)

Kentucky

Fairly

Good Fund Raiser

The

Breckinridge

County

Chapter of Harned,Kentucky,reportsona

somewhat

unusual

and

verysuccessful fundraiser.

The

chapter coordinatestheactivities of onenightduringcountyfair.

The

ac- tivitiesthey

manage

are the

Miss

Breckin- ridge

County

Beauty Pageant,theLittle Mr.and Mrs. Contest

and

the

Baby Con-

test.

For managing

these activities, the chapterreceives apercentage ofthegate receipts.

They

also secure sponsors to helppaythe prize

money,

forthejudges dinner and other expenses.

From

this activitythechapternettedapproximately

$2,500.

(Samantha

Haycraft,Reporter) Kansas

They Cleaned Up

Ittooksix

hours

but

39 Jackson

Heights,

Kansas, members

netted$1^,1

50

forthe chapterforhelpingtheclean

up crew

at

Arrowhead Stadium

in

Kansas

City.

(From National Chapter Award

application)

Washington apples

mean ^{healthier sales.}

America's favorite fruit is a natural for fund raising.

While many people can pass up candy, magazines or soap, few can say no

tocrisp,juicy

apples fresh from the orchards of Washington

state.

The pick of the crop

isavailablefor

your club

to sellright

now-Red

Delicious,

Golden Delicious or Granny Smith.

Justcall

or write

to

the address below

for

a

free

brochure with complete

details

on how

to

make your fund-raising

effort

the most

profitableever.

Washington Apple Commission Fund-Raising Division

P.O.

Box

18,

Wenatchee, WA 98807 Phone:(509)663-9600

The Original Health Food.

Nebraska

Hired Hand For a Day

The

Norris,Nebraska, Chapterfeltit

was

a challenge to get every

member

involvedinthe

money making

activities ofitsorganization.

The

Earningsand Sav- ings

Committee

provided

enough

activi- tiessothatall

70 members

wereactively involved in planning, advertising

and

promoting popcornsales, fruit sales,hired

hand

fora

day

auction

and

theproduce boothatthe

Nebraska

StateFair.

It isaprimary goal ofthe

committee

thatevery

member

havetheopportunity toattendallleadershipworkshops, con- ferences,stateandnationalconventions,

and

otherevents at

no

expense tothe participating

members.

Thus,

no member

isprevented

from

attendingan activity because of

money.

The

chapter'smajor sources of

income

includedfruit sales,$7^,150;popcornsale,

$4,300;testplotsales,$900;

and

hired

hand

fora

day

sale,$2,680.

As

incentivesto sell fruit

and

popcorn, thechapter provided

50

centspersaleto the

members. The

chaptersentthank- you'sto allbusinesses,organizations

and

individuals

who made

donations

and

contributionstothechapter.

(From Na-

tionalChapter

Award

application)

Thisyearthe

shop and ag room became warehouses as hundreds

of

boxes were purchased from

theBattle

Creek FFA Chapter and

then soldtoarea

chapters and community members.

Nebraska

Three Winners

The

Waverly, Nebraska,

FFA

Chapter hasthree

main

fundraisersthroughoutthe year'sactivities.

They

usethese

money makers

each year to support about a

$14,000 budget year round.

The

biggest

one

ofthe threeis

maga-

zine sales

which

the chapter conducts duringthefall.

Then

the

money

isusedfor chapteroperationsduringthe entire year.

The

top

magazine

salesmaninthe fresh- (ContinuedonPage42) August-September,1990

Sausage

BLUE & GOLD Sausage Company

Salutes

FFA and the New Agricultural Sales Contest Providing Fund Raising

and

Preparing FFA members for

Careers in Agricultural Marketing

BLUE & GOLD Sausage Company

(

Fund Raising At

It's

Best) Jones, Oklahoma 73049

Great Fundraising Begins Here

NOW YOUR ORGANIZATION CAN