KEEP Advisory Com- mittee Participants

Over the years you have seen KEEP's Bright Idea Fundraiser advertised in the newsletter, electronic bulletin, and Web site. We thought we would take this opportunity to tell you more about the history of the fundraiser, its benefits, and what school groups have ac- complished through it. The fundraiser was piloted during the 2002/2003 school year and 16 schools partici- pated. For three years the number of schools that sold compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) held steady at 16 and KEEP continued to offer three different wattages of CFLs. In the 2005/2006 school year KEEP increased the number of schools that could partici- pate in the fundraiser and opened it up to non-school groups such as churches and youth groups. In the 2007/2008 school year KEEP added a 3-way CFL and multi-colored light emitting diode (LED) holiday lights to the products list. The LED holiday lights were so popular that KEEP added white LED holiday lights in the following year. There are many benefits to running a Bright Idea Fundraiser at your school! Besides rais- ing money for their school or organization the groups save their customers money by sell- ing them the ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs and LEDs. The products sold through the fundraiser are more energy efficient than traditional lights so they reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that is released into the atmosphere, so the students are helping to preserve the environment as well.