McNeil High School Band
Boosters - Fundraising
During recent years, Chapter 41 budget cuts have forced the McNeil Maverick Band/Guard Program to do more with less. The McNeil Band/Guard Boosters are expected to raise over $70,000 to support the Maverick Band/Guard program. Annual big budget items include: color guard director salary, instruments, financial support to the middle schools for the band program, marching music and drill, and color guard equipment and props.
The Boosters raise a substantial amount of their budget by running concession stands for middle and high-school football games. In addition, we have the opportunity to raise an unlimited amount of money from our corporate sponsor, HEB, through the sale of HEB gift cards. The success of these two fundraisers determines how many additional fundraisers we will need to add during the year. Your support of Booster fundraisers and football game concessions is crucial for our students to enjoy a successful band/guard experience.
Band/Guard parents can raise money in the following ways for the band/guard program and, where designated below, a student will earn trip credits by working in the concession stands.
HEB Cards
The Boosters are fortunate to have HEB as a great corporate sponsor who’s willing to let us earn as much money as we’d like. Purchase cards for yourself as well as friends, relatives and neighbors – it’s an easy way to support the band/guard without spending any additional out-of-pocket money.
Purchase McNeil Band Booster/HEB gift cards at their face value ($10, $20, $25, $50 and $100 increments) and HEB will immediately donate 5 percent of the card value to the McNeil Band/Guard Boosters. Gift cards can be used on all food, gas, pharmacy, photo purchases, anything you usually write a check for at H-E-B and can be used at any HEB, HEB Plus or Central Market in the state of Texas.
For more information, contact HEB card coordinator Lisa Hestand. Her contact information is found on the McNeil Band Booster Officers chart on the Band Boosters main page.
This is the easiest fund raiser available to you. It requires no extra effort on your part, just what you would normally do when going to HEB. Please consider participating. Cards will be available at all band events. To purchase H-E-B gift cards from neighborhood representatives, please check the HEB Card – Neighborhood Representatives page.
A portion of HEB card sales will earn trip credits for your band/color guard student.
Concession Stands
A significant portion of funds raised by the Boosters comes from concession stand proceeds.
We work in the concession stands during the Varsity, Junior Varsity, Freshman or Middle School home football games, as well as the play-off games. It is a lot of fun and a great way to get to know the parents of the students your own child is spending a lot of time with. (Think of it as networking.) The job includes setup and preparation of food, serving food, collecting money and cleanup of the stand after the game.
We ask that freshman parents not sign up for the first home game as we know how important it is for you to watch your child on the field for the first time. Also, we don’t want the senior parents to sign up for the last home game as we wouldn’t want them to miss the special presentation of the senior band/guard members. Keep this in mind when volunteering. Please note that parents do not get paid for working these concessions, nor do they earn student trip credits. Since concessions are our major source of funding, it is important that we have enough volunteers. If we do not have enough volunteers, we may have to return to assigning sections of the band/guard to work concessions or contract out the staffing of the concession stand to other booster organizations and pay them for working the concession stand.
Playoff Game Concession Stands
Each year the Round Rock ISD has an opportunity to host high school play-off games at the district stadiums. As such, we have the opportunity to raise additional funds by providing concessions at these events. These games take place after the regular season and can last well into December. Students and parents are encouraged to work. In order for a student to work and earn trip credits, they must work with a parent. Students who work will receive trip credits at the rate of $7 per hour. Parents, on the other hand, can work with or without a student and the hours the parent works count towards the requested 20 hours per family.
Round Rock Express Concession Stands
Parents work concession stands at Round Rock Express games for the 2008 baseball season. You must attend a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) training class in the spring—TABC certification is good for two years. More information will follow later in the year.
Silent Auction
For the Silent Auction, the Boosters collect in-kind donations from area businesses for its final band concert/silent auction at the RRISD Performing Arts Center. If you know of a business that is willing to donate items to our silent auction, please contact any board member. Items can include certificates for restaurants, rounds of golf at area golf courses, hotel rooms, movie passes, miniature golf, etc.