Avondale UMC Youth have fundraising round-up at Pizza Ranch

Monday night was Avondale Youth Night at the local Pizza Ranch on North Oak here in Kansas City. The youth from Avondale United Methodist Church bussed the tables from 5-9 p.m. In exchange, Pizza Ranch graciously allowed the youth to keep tips received as well as sharing in part of the evening’s proceeds.

The evening for the youth began at 4:30 with an orientation by the Pizza Ranch staff, followed by heading out to bussing tables, sweeping floors, etc.

Betsy dropped off our children, Nathan and Carly, at 4:30, with the plan to come back at 7 p.m., when we would all have dinner together, our deal with the kids for them to join the youth group for the fundraiser.

We arrived at 6:45 p.m., so I could catch the kids in action, before giving them their supper break. We seemed to be arriving near the end of the heavy rush. The restaurant seemed full of customers, and movement of green Avondale shirts was visible throughout.

We paid, sat down to eat, and watched our kids work the rest of their shift before giving them their break. And as they ate, I quizzed them on what they had learned, what they had observed.

“We were told to always put the lighter condiment on the right” Nathan said, pointing to the salt/pepper and pepper/cheese shakers, “for those who are colorblind.”

He also said they were instructed when cleaning up the tables to put the advertising tent cards at the end of the table near the outside end of the table. But he had observed that people tended to move the tent cards to the middle or inside ends of the table when they sat down.

The youth had also been told that Monday night’s were usually a slower night, which is one of the reasons they offer them as fund-raising nights. But this Monday night also happened to be a double points night for Pizza Ranch card holders. Which would mean extra patrons — an extra bonus opportunity for the fund-raiser.

We saw a lot of people from church who might ordinarily not have been there all at the same time — like us there were there on Monday to help support the church youth group.

But more than just the funds raised by youth for their mission projects, the youth also gained valuable work experience. Though for just a few hours, on a volunteer basis, they got the chance to see inside the operation of a local business. They learned the value of seemingly small things to an operation — like proper placement of salt shakers — that attention to detail, and doing a job well is worth doing.

And from my observation, they all showed they could work hard and conscientiously.

So, let me say thank you to Pizza Ranch for its support of the community from an appreciative parent of a couple of Avondale United Methodist Church youth.