The Festival of Trees was a big support to the RTEF or the Reading Technology Education Foundation. It is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the technology. Every dollar spent went to the total sum of money to buy technology for every school in Reading. This foundation has bought laptops for the Parker Middle School. Other than just trees being bidded on, there were silent auctions that were going on. Some of the items included gift cards to various places. You would get 1 ticket for $1. For $5 you would get 6 tickets. If you won then you would get the tree and what was on it.
There were many jobs at the festival that kept it running. For one, there was a snack bar that supplied refreshments to the people who came there. Second, people handed out voting slips for which tree was the best and scavenger hunts that could be turned in for a free ticket. There were some people who helped people make cookies for anyone who wanted one. At the table for the Mission of Deeds people ran the table for a bed for a child. People would donate a dollar and every 90 dollars, one bed could be given to a needy child. Last but not least, there were people who ran the check-in table.
At the Snack shack, we sold a variety of foods. We sold popcorn, chips, candy, pizza, water, and soda. We charged one dollar for each of the items. Business started out slow, but after an hour or so, people began to buy food and beverages in case they got hungry or thirsty.
