Wear Urbandale swag, feed a child: New apparel store would help pay off school lunch debt
People who want to show their Urbandale school spirit may soon also be helping to pay off students' lunch debt.
The Urbandale Community School District's Board of Education is scheduled to vote April 22 on a proposal to contract with Letterman Creative to create an online apparel store for the district. That might include athletic wear, dress apparel, outerwear and gear such as stickers, hats, bags and drinkware.
The district would get 15% of gross sales from the online store as profit, according to Urbandale spokesperson Dena Claire. The school district would put its profit toward its Food Service Angel Fund to help pay off negative meal account balances for students, which totaled more than $19,000 as of April 11.
She said the Food Service Angel Fund gets about $5,000 in donations each year, and people are still welcome to donate to it.
The proposal for the apparel store with Letterman estimated there would be $5,000 in startup costs the first year and then $1,250 in annual costs to host the website. The district determined Letterman's proposal — one of two received after the district contacted four prospective partners — "provided the most modern interface, lowest ongoing fees, and fastest product delivery times," according to school board documents.
Letterman partners with the Des Moines commercial printer Universal Printing Services, which is owned and operated by Urbandale alumni Brian and Sarah Springer.
There already are several other online retailers selling Urbandale-branded clothing, and Claire said the district's online store would be another way people can buy apparel to show off their school spirit.
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Other Iowa schools including high schools in Waukee and West Des Moines use Letterman for their online apparel stores.
West Des Moines Community School District spokesperson Laine Buck said the district puts its 15% of gross sales profit into its general funds. West Des Moines PTO and student club groups also have the option to host pop-up sales each year. Those profits directly go toward schools as a fundraiser.
From the first quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2024, West Des Moines got more than $17,700 from its gross sales profit and pop-up sales.
Letterman welcomes the opportunity for such pop-up sales in Urbandale, according to the company's proposal.
Phillip Sitter covers the western suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @pslifeisabeauty.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Profits from new Urbandale apparel store would pay student lunch debt
