Plentiful emails were sent out giving notice about homecoming mum pick up, as the times to pick up orders at the back of the campus garage approached.
“Tuesday’s pick up ran smoothly; there were a lot of people,” fundraiser co-chair Teri Gordon said. “It was slower in the morning, but then picked up in the afternoon. We had a mix of parents and students picking up their mums and garters.”
The Upper School has adopted the popular homecoming tradition, making mums available to purchase in anticipation of homecoming games.
This year, the mums came in three different styles: classic, deluxe and a newly added style exclusively for seniors. Out of the 224 mums sold this year, 99 were classic, 80 were deluxe and 45 were the exclusive option.
2024 was the second annual mum and garter fundraiser. In previous years, students purchased their own from somewhere other than campus but for the past two years, Mumtastic, a business based in Conroe, Texas, has supplied mums for Kinkaid and other surrounding Houston schools. With about a dozen employees, Mumtastic makes around 40,000 mums per year.
Prior to 2023, the school’s fall fundraiser was a poinsettia sale, but the poinsettia sale’s popularity lessened so the homecoming fundraiser was created.
This year’s fundraiser sold 397 total mums, an increase over the 344 units sold a year earlier.
But mums were not the only item for sale. Girls at Kinkaid could also purchase a garter for her date.
There was a slight increase in garters, with 148 sold last year and 150 sold this year.
All proceeds from this year’s sale will support the sophomores when they reach their senior year .
“That week between when seniors finish school and graduation, there are plentiful events and parties such as senior dinner and the big senior party after graduation, so the money raised will fund all those parties,” Gordon said.
