Rockwall PTA Fundraiser For Time-Strapped Parents Goes Viral

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter

ROCKWALL (CBS 11 NEWS) - Quite often, greatness can be found in pure simplicity. Take the Rockwall middle school PTA that's earning praise from time-strapped parents by tapping into humor and honesty to raise cold hard cash.

"It just absolutely cracked us up," says Rockwall mother of three, Dee Heinz, "my husband and I sat there laughing saying this can't be real… what a wonderful option for us."

The note the PTA sent home with her Williams middle school student reads as follows: "$15: I do not want to bake, so here is the money I would have spent on those cupcakes. $25: I do not want to hit up friends, family and coworkers, so here is the money I would have spent on wrapping paper," reads Heinz with a chuckle, adding "… and here's my favorite: $100: I really wouldn't have helped anyway, so here's $100 to forget my name." Heinz calls the unique approach to fundraising "very clever, very honest, very straightforward and full of humor."

The note also struck a chord with the busy Mom who says that when it comes to school fundraisers—from cookies to candles to wrapping paper and chocolate bars—she's done it all, while still doing so much.

"We've got schoolwork, we've got extracurricular activities… sports, just so many things that we're involved with," says Heinz, "that one simple fundraiser isn't always just one and it isn't always just simple."

So she says she not only appreciated the flexibility the fundraiser offered, but it was also just plain old funny. So she shared the note on Facebook. You can guess what happened next. "It's gone across the globe—I've gotten messages from Australia and England and all over the place," says Heinz, still amazed at the response. By Friday morning, the post had been shared more than 186,000 times in three days—and it's still going.

Meanwhile, Rockwall school officials say what matters most is the parental support—however it's delivered.

"Those monies support great things like character education programs and scholarships,"
says Renae Murphy, spokesperson for the Rockwall ISD. "So it certainly has a value in our district and we are appreciative that those options meet those needs by families."

Heinz also insists that she's not bad mouthing fundraisers. "People who don't have the luxury of just writing a check, that's a way they can participate and give back… I just appreciated the option."

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)