This is pretty rad. I wish her the best if she goes on her trip. Also this takes me back to my 9th grade trip when I lived in Venezuela. We didn’t have a cafeteria in my school so our class had daily bake sales, from juice to cake and sammiches. Everything was home made and amazing. We managed easily raise funds for the trip and we didn’t have to hassle anyone to buy anything. We got to go to Aruba :3
I hate school fundraisers. Usually buying the right to act as middlemen for products nobody wants. And you know what? Screw car washes. I would pay for snow or leaf removal in a heartbeat.
I’ve read articles where certain schools have opted for selling things people want actually need or want. The last one that comes to mind was a school that was selling toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I think that it’s convenient selling items like those where people will have an inherent need for. Selling candy, pizza (last year of HS we sold pizza door-to-door and it sucked), cookies, etc is pointless.
And just like you mentioned Martin, if they had kids mowing lawns, removing leaves, etc i think people would totally get behind it. I’d even be all for kids growing organic food through a program with the school and selling the goods at a farmer’s market either fresh or preserved. Here in Austin that stuff likes really well.
This is awesome. She looks very talented. Nice to see people using the internet for things like this. I still have to wonder how many school trips we could fund with one shitty corporate tax break though.
One of her comics from her Etsy store.
Thanks Cory for posting this on BoingBoing! The BB bump in traffic and sales not only pushed Jemima’s Indiegogo campaign well over the 50% mark it’s also been a huge boost to her enthusiasm for the project to see orders and comments coming in not just from friends and family but from supportive strangers around the country and beyond. When we started the project we were very clear to set expectations: with hard work and a lot of focus it’s possible to achieve this goal but it’s not going to be easy and it’s by no means a sure thing. Two weeks in we were still supportive but wondering if this whole thing was going to end up being a painful lesson. The old “hard work and good intentions don’t guarantee success” life lesson that we know as adults but it’s so painful to watch your kid learn it the hard way. But now, with a week to go and her campaign over 60% it’s feeling like even if she doesn’t hit her goal she’s in striking distance. With her ongoing Etsy sales, birthday and Christmas money, and yes even the dreaded chocolate money, I think this is going to be a happy lesson.
Oh and one other exciting outcome of the BB post: Jemima is, at this moment, give an email interview to the Washington Post Comics Riff blog. wow!
Thanks again for the support,
Jemima’s Dad
Thanks for the update. Even if she falls a bit short, i think the main takeaway would be not to accept the standard way of things. In school, and in life, we should encourage kids to find what works best with their abilities and interests and use that to accomplish things. I kind of had that growing up but i would’ve loved some more encouragement to find my passions early on.
This to me is one of the most heartbreaking things about being a parent. Seeing them discover that there aren’t always happy endings. But it looks like you dodged the bullet on this one 
Sounds like in addition to a talent for cartooning, she’s also got an awesome dad. Has she always been into drawing? Does she read comics?
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