Town abuzz over flamingo fundraiser

Canton residents beware: Flocks of pink flamingos have been spotted around town, and they have been turning up on people’s front lawns when they least expect it. Homeowners are advised to be on the lookout for these brightly colored birds, or else they run the risk of getting … flocked.

The truth is, these are not living and breathing flamingos of the American or even Chilean variety, but rather their iconic lawn kitsch counterparts made of hard plastic and thin metal rods for legs.

Flocking, it turns out, is the latest fundraising craze sweeping Canton, and over the past few weeks it has become the talk of town as various unsuspecting residents awake to find the bright pink birds dotting their lawns bearing requests for donations – and offering them a chance to flock their friends or neighbors.

Sponsored by the CHS volleyball team, the fundraiser has already raised more than $1,000 in a little over three weeks, with the proceeds going to the CHS Athletic Booster Club. The team purchased four sets of nine flamingos, and every night after practice, the girls remove the flocks from one lawn and take them to their next scheduled destination.

Senior volleyball player Anjali Schutt, who has participated in a different flocking mission each night since the activity began, estimates that they have flocked at least 60 houses in Canton thus far.

“Flocking is a lot of fun. There is a lot of team building in it,” Schutt said. “The drivers are usually seniors, sometimes a junior who can [legally drive with other passengers], but a couple kids from the team will join the driver in flocking that night. Since underclassmen can’t drive, they hop in the car with the driver and the night always ends with a lot of laughs because of little things that happen, like getting lost while trying to find the house to flock or breaking a flamingo’s leg by accident.”

Although using flamingos to raise money is not a new idea – the activity has even spawned websites such as flamingofundraising.com and flamingoflocking.com – former CHS volleyball coach and CHS alum Michelle Cawley thought it might be fun for the girls to try after reading about a similar fundraiser online.

“Flocking is a lot of work and Michelle has taken over the organization of the entire process,” said her mother, Pat Cawley, currently in her fourth year as head volleyball coach. “We could not do it without her. The entire JV and varsity teams are involved, with all the players taking turns going out at night.”

The beauty of the fundraiser is in its simplicity: people can request to flock a friend for a $10 donation, and then the person who is flocked can do the same for another friend or neighbor, thereby keeping the birds moving.

“We request that if someone wants to flock a friend that they donate $10, but if they want to donate more or flock more friends they can do so,” explained senior volleyball captain Colleen Myers. “People can also purchase ‘flocking insurance’ for $10, which exempts them the next time that a friend tries to flock them.”

Myers said they try to be discreet when planting the flamingos, although the occasional encounter with a resident is unavoidable. And those who do catch them are always very supportive and complimentary, she said.

Schutt, meanwhile, has still not gotten caught; however, she has received plenty of positive remarks on her handiwork.

“When I hear someone talking about the pink flamingos on the lawns,” she said, “I smile and laugh and explain to them, with pride, that it’s a volleyball fundraiser.”

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=2290

Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 7 2010. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.