Can you call either the store or a supply company and have it delivered direct? It sounds like you are buying quite a bit, you'd be a good customer for them.
Kudos to you for volunteering, it sounds like you are doing a lot to help.

Thanks, Lucille. I like to help out. I just didn't realize how much shopping it would take. We do have to make a yearly purchase from Pepsi, as they own the soda machine, but having deliveries means we make no money to keep the staff in treats for the year. I don't think our orders would be quite large enough for a chain grocery to deliver for free.

Who knew teachers & staff needed so much caffeine? :)

Is there no expiration date on canned soda? I always buy the 16.9 ounce plastic bottles, and they only last about two months before going flat! Yuck to flat soda. The one I'm drinking now and bought at the grocery store yesterday expires on October 13, 2014. You might want to be careful not to get stuck. I honestly don't know if canned soda expires because I don't like or buy it; just hoping to be halpful.

??? So the objective is for you to do the shopping to stock the soda machine so that the profits from those machines can then be used for you to do further shopping for treats and snacks ???

Why is it that teachers and government workers require so many more parties, treats, and snacks than all other employees in the world?!?!

Just notify the committee that you were happy to help but that you cannot do more than two shopping trips per month.

I used to buy for the concession stand for basketball and volleyball for our academic society at school. I always shopped at SAMs Club but used our tax ID number, used my Discover card, was reimbursed by the organization, got my cash back from Discover, donated that back. Win win. Hated unloading all of that very unhealthy food every week and putting it away though.

"Why is it that teachers and government workers require so many more parties, treats, and snacks than all other employees in the world?!?!"

I can give a little insight about snacks. I worked for many years in a school system as a nurse. For the teachers, many routinely worked in their classrooms during their lunch break and often for hours after the kids left in the afternoon. A Coke and a snack was a welcome way to stave off hunger while they stayed late.
And for me, I routinely gave up lunch breaks because I felt the students didn't need to wait 30 minutes if they were ill, so I would eat lunch (and snack) in the clinic.
I would often bring fruit and a sandwich from home, but I have to admit that a snack machine snack was welcome in the late afternoons.

I worked in poor inner city schools, and the extra money from soda/snack sales was I am sure welcome in the school budget.

You reminded me of how I was feeling Friday night. Friday night, I couldn't get to sleep after our first football game (away, so even longer night), because I hurt so much. My ankles were swollen and hurt, my hips hurt, and I had leg cramps. Glad I'm getting into shape, but sheesh! hard work.

I was in marching band all through school and I really wanted my son to experience the highs, lows, hard work, dedication, discipline, camaraderie-all of it-like I did, but I also wanted to give back to the group that gave so much to me. I've volunteered for the "pit crew", the group that gets the children's equipment onto and off of the tractor-trailer to get to/from football games and contests. But we've been meeting since July! and cleaning out the band's storage area, organizing the matreials, and even building props for the show. It's way more than I bargained for. I keep asking myself, what did I get myself into?!!!

You're doing the right thing even if it is a pain in the rear.

Redcurls, thank you for the thoughts. We're going through the soda so quickly that I don't think it'll go bad. Maybe the diet?

Terilyn & Rob, thanks for volunteering. It's great for the kids and the whole school! Spirits and behavior is better when kids get to be active and be part of something more.

Party_Music, am I correct at guessing that you've never been a government or school employee? I find your comments to be incorrect, but thank you for the advice, anyway.

follow the ads, too...we got a great deal at target of all places...wish you had the choice of buying the larger sizes from Costco or sams....as for expiration dates, I think canned soda might last almost a year? and for those who are lunch lost, what about soda can sized v8? back in the day, we also had a student machine with fresh apples...(1960) guess we were before our time...lol...