Talk to your local Chick-fil-A and see what kind of deal they will give you on party trays. We get the chicken minis (for breakfast) and the cinnabites. Then we have some moms in the school that come in and do relaxation sessions with BeautiControl products. In fact, the staff just had a catered lunch and the BeautiControl relaxation sessions for all of us on the PTO Board! What a neat "thank you" lunch that they did for us! We loved it! We also use a couple of families in our school that have catering businesses. As far as breakfast though, Chick-fil-A is our best bet, and the teachers love it!
How about forgoing the lunch and giving them a massage instead? Send them off for the holidays relaxed and rejuvinated. We have a massage therapy school near here and they have students who will come into the school with their tables and do 15 minute rub downs on all the staff, not just the teachers.
Our school does a cookie swap for our teacher's. We purchase tins from the dollar store, designate a day for our volunteers to bring in cookies and have the teacher's come pick out a dozen or 2. Last year we had fudge, candy, a little of everything. The teacher's loved it...
Our staff does have their own Christmas party. At the elementary it used to be at the school (not sure about now) at the 5/6 they are going to a resort. BUT if your PTO wants to show your appreciation for the teachers I really don't see what it would hurt. They can always go on a diet after the new year.
One thing they did a few years ago was use our props we had for Breakfast with Santa. They played a trivia game. Personally though I think if they do already have a staff party I would just provide them food during the day. You don't want the partied out before the holidays and it is such a busy time of the year.
As far as getting donations try your local resturuants and diners. Captian D's has party platters I am sure many other resturants do too. Or you could make it a pot luck and have volunteers to bring it in. We do this for teacher apprec week and it works really well.
Any sugegstions on how to get food donated from business? And what kind of business do I go to, to ask for help?
Can you ask around and see if there are any families at the school who own restaurants or have connections to any? That's what we usually do when we need big quantities of food. Those are usually the people who are apt to donate in our situation.
SHC
All we have done in the past is baked goods in the staff lounge the day before break begins. It's simple and the teacher's appreciate it. This year, we'll be getting them each a school sweatshirt (Thanks to EPI!).
Kelley
Madison PTO
Mount Vernon, WA
