From popcorn and candy to hot dogs and nachos, snacks are an essential part of attending sporting events. Being a dedicated fan requires fuel, and concessions has it covered. Camas High School (CHS) Staff Member Lisa Schneider has been managing concessions for the past seven years. This job entails running the snack stand for every single sporting event that would generate a good crowd, from varsity football to girls’ soccer.
However, some events can generate a very hungry fan base, such as the CHS football games. In those cases, Schneider looks to student volunteers to help serve the crowds.
“I usually try to go for sports [teams] first to see if they wanna work events or work seasons, and from there I’ll go down to activities and clubs, like pickleball or Model UN or Robotics or Sports Med,” Schneider said.
By doing so, multiple different groups of students get the opportunity to help out and serve the community.
Sophomore Elliott Defore-Poe worked at a CHS football game with her soccer team this fall and found it to be a positive experience.
“I think it was a lot of fun, I had a really good time,” Defore-Poe said. “I feel like it was fun to work with all my teammates off the field and it was a good bonding experience.”
Working concessions during games has also given students the chance to interact with members of the Camas community that they wouldn’t normally see or talk to. Schneider’s son, Cooper Schneider (11) worked a few games this season and particularly enjoyed the social aspect of the experience.
“I enjoyed just being social with everybody, like fans, students, parents, friends,” Cooper Schneider said. “It was just being able to see people from concessions because you’ve kinda got like a big group of people all around.”
Every year, total profit from concessions has increased since the return from COVID. This year was no exception with a total profit of nearly $80,000 once the cost of inventory was subtracted out. A cut of the profit from each game also goes to support the student volunteers who worked for it, as well as the sports and clubs they represent.
“We do that through Camas Boosters, which is a nonprofit. So we just turn around once inventory is minused and then we push funds out to those [groups] through ASB,” Lisa Schneider said.
Overall, the profit from concessions provides an opportunity for support of CHS clubs and sports, and the student volunteers who help with it are in turn giving back to the community.
