To All Concerned Friends and Family of Michigan City Pop Warner,

We (Michigan City Pop Warner Board of Directors) have met on multiple occasions to gather all of the fundraising information and provide the most complete accurate data to you.  We apologize for not getting information to you sooner.  Due to the National Championships in early December and the holidays, we were not able to meet in December for our monthly board meeting.  Due to scheduling conflicts and winter weather storms, there was minimal attendance at the January board meeting.  Finally, in February, we had the ability to meet and discuss all of the fundraising efforts and the result of such.  At that time, we were compiling all of the data from both cheer and football.  There were many people involved in the fundraising efforts, and not the duty of any one person.  Therefore, we had to gather all of this information from all parties involved before making it available to the Michigan City Pop Warner family.  We did not want to release any information until all of the data was available to us and we verified the fundraising money and approved the football and cheer reports on a strict balance sheet.

The Michigan City Pop Warner Board of Directors is made of up a variety of people.  There are football representatives as well as cheer, and those not coaching in either.  Our board operates in the manner in which precedence was set.  The founding members of our board (and those in succession) created a system for fundraising and we have followed in the footsteps of their methodology.  We did not create our own fundraising guidelines on the fly and make all the rules as we moved forward.  There were decisions made and changes made throughout the season based upon past experiences in fundraising, but we had nothing to draw from given it was the first time we made the journey to Florida with both football and cheer.  We have learned things along the way and have made improvements to the system.  This process is ever-changing and always evolving into something better for our community and the Pop Warner family.  We will continue working on these things going forward that best serves our scholar athletes.

The National Championship experience was new to everyone in the organization where both cheer and football traveled to Florida.  There were many growing pains in the development of this league and continues to be as we strive to make this the premier organization with National Pop Warner.  We are looking into what other successful teams and towns have done that have participated in championship runs.  We are looking into methods they have used for fundraising national competition travel where multiple teams participated.  We want to satisfy the demands of travel for the entire Pop Warner family, while also satisfying those participating and the community rallying behind us.  This was our first time in the history of Michigan City Pop Warner and we will continue to improve on every facet of our organization.  Michigan City Pop Warner is truly about the scholar athlete, both cheer and football.  We want to see the youth of our community succeed in the classroom and on the field in both cheer and football and carry it forward into their life after Pop Warner.   

The fundraising questions you have proposed recently should be answered in our detailed report.  The teams (football and cheer) fundraised separately and each team had their own fundraising committee with their own business plan in place for fundraising.  Both teams followed their fundraising strategy and met their fundraising goals.  The majority of fundraising opportunities varied among the cheer and football families, as they did not want to overlap their efforts.  The cheer program actually participated in a larger number of different fundraisers than football as you can see in the report.

The National Championship reservations for the cheer family were held to a deadline earlier than that of football.  Therefore, the money was due sooner, and before football knew they were advancing following the Regional Championship game in Yipsilanti, MI.  Football did not have all their money collected and/or known until after Cheer was paid up to National Pop Warner in Florida.  It is worth mentioning that the mandatory required stay for football was two times as long as the cheer requirements.  The required stay for football was 7 days, which drove their costs up.  This is due to the minimum ‘2-game’ schedule for football and the possibility of a 3rd game (the National Championship game).  Cheer had to compete one time in Florida in their quest for a National Title, and only required 3 days.  The commitment required by football and cheer was a driving factor in the goals each family set forth.

Technically, everything raised before the Regional Title game, but after the State Championship games (Jr. Midgets won the state title a week earlier than the Jr. Pee Wee & Pee Wee teams),  included every fundraising effort, except for the donations.  The money raised by the cheer and football family was comparatively even at that point.   As previously explained by the Cheer Director, the football family had larger corporate and personal donations throughout their diverse network.  This explains the significant difference between cheer and football’s strict donations.  The donations that were shared by both cheer and football were split as agreed upon.  Those donations include (2) Newspaper solicitations and three corporate sponsors.  The amount of money from those shared donations paled in comparison to the donations raised by football.

The Pop Warner National Travel Grant was money applied for by Michigan City Pop Warner.  The amounts awarded were strictly distributed and designated by National Pop Warner.  Michigan City Pop Warner had no stake in the distribution of this money. 

The Michigan City Pop Warner Travel Donation was the money donated, as agreed and voted upon by the board, in the amount of $100 per participant for each team traveling to Florida for the National Competition.   The money raised for both cheer and football was disbursed to cover as much of the expenses of each participant within their separate business plans.  Any money in surplus was given to the Michigan City Pop Warner organization.   This explains the amount presented for reimbursement on the football report.

We would like to apologize for the timing in reporting the comprehensive fundraising report.  This information was compiled and presented to you in this report and hope that you find this information satisfactory as it is true and accurate.  In retrospect of the fundraising and efforts put forth, the time frame was short and had to be coordinated in a very quick fashion.  At no time, was there an intention to mislead or deceive you.  Decisions had to be made quickly and hastily in order for the teams to prepare for their travel.  We have learned lessons in hindsight and hope you accept our apologies in the delay.

Thank you,

The Michigan City Pop Warner Board of Directors

Please send all inquiries to questions@mcpopwarner.com