Help Your Local School Win $25,000

Playground (Photo credit: phalinn)

It's time to start getting your community excited about U.S. Cellular's upcoming Calling All Communities (CAC) campaign.  The campaign, which runs from November 4-25, challenges schools to rally community support  for the chance to win a share of $500,000 to fund what their students need the most.  The 20 schools with the most community votes will each win $25,000.  Since the program began in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $4 million to 56 schools across the country.  Past winners have outfitted their classrooms with new computers, improved outdated infrastructure and renovated gymnasiums, kitchens and science labs.  What could your school do with $25,000?

There is only one vote per person, so the key is to get every community member involved.  This is especially important in small communities.  I would love to see Eagle Elementary School, the school my kids attended, win - but we really would have to get the entire community involved, as well as friends and family from elsewhere, because there are not that many people in the community.  We'd need every vote, and then some.

Here are some suggestions from U.S. Cellular to help get you started rallying your community:

• When the campaign launches, there will be a printable flyer on the U.S. Cellular website that can help you spread the word in the community.
• Post information on your school’s website with a link to the U.S. Cellular website for updates.
• Engage sports teams, the school band or student groups to help spread the word by handing out campaign flyers available on uscellular.com.
• Ask local businesses to share campaign flyers with their customers or hang flyers on their premises.
• Even get the Principal involved for some fun incentives like a pie-throwing contests.

I'm sure you can think of some others.  This list is just to get you started.  Since all voting is done online, I think having an internet-connected computer available at all school activities would be a huge help.  Not all community members have internet access, and even those who do may forget to vote when they go home.  Catch them at school and help them vote then and there.  And if you could get the local library to help out by posting a flyer and making a computer available for voting, that would be great, too.

The Calling All Communities campaign is open to all K-12 schools where U.S. Cellular has a retail presence – big or small, public or private.  Be sure to check out the U.S. Cellular website for more information if you have any questions, and get started gathering community support for your local school.  You could help your school win $25,000.!  Winning schools will be announced in December.

Disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in the U.S. Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade as well as receiving a new phone.  My experiences with and opinions of U.S. Cellular are 100% mine.