An invitation to join the PTA often sends chills up the spines of moms and dads.

The officers of the Jenkins Creek Elementary School PTA (Parent Teacher Association), which serves a school of 388 students, want to change any negative perceptions of volunteering with the association because for these five moms, it’s about more than bake sales and drama.

That was something DeeDee Burdick had to overcome before she began serving as vice president of fund-raising.

“It’s hard to put your foot out there,” she said. “I was concerned about joining, but they told me if I needed them to help pick up the slack, they would, and that has made such a difference.”

Burdick said the big message is the PTA is about the big picture, as well as developing relationships and “trying to promote a sense of community.”

Patti Melton, secretary of the Jenkins Creek PTA, said the group has been welcoming and she has four best friends now.

“There’s the stereotypical PTA that’s a big clique,” Melton said. “We’re not like that. We’ll take anyone.”

This school year they’re trying to increase membership by 25 percent and let people know that they’re a fun group. At a meeting, Melton and her fellow officers donned matching magenta t-shirts with their motto silk screened on the back:”We’re not your mother’s PTA.”

By early October, they already had 117 members and needed only seven more by the end of the month to meet the membership goal for the year.

Amber Webster, president, said she feels strong about her work with the PTA.

“I can’t be in my daughter’s school every day to be a part of her class, so this is how I can contribute something to the community,” Webster said. “It’s not just about school. It’s about the community. We’re molding them to be better people.”

Much of the after-school programs at Jenkins Creek are funded by PTA, explained Amie Collins, vice president of volunteers.

“We also provide funds for assemblies,” Collins said. “We do staff appreciation, birthday notes, a late-night dinner during (student-teacher) conferences, and staff appreciation at the end of the year.”

PTA also uses the money it raises throughout the year to pay for furthering students’ educations. Melton said the association helps with art, geography and reading, among other things, which costs about $10,000 annually, said Sharon Andrews, who serves as treasurer.

PTA volunteers also do art projects with the kids, which has been well-received, and also work with school officials to teach their kids about being good citizens.

“We don’t just do a holiday food drive, now because people need food all year round,” Melton said. “We have a focus item for the month (to help) people that get food stamps who can’t buy items like toilet paper or tooth brushes. These programs are so awesome because you’re teaching your kids to be givers, too. It’s so valuable.”

They also do a clothing drive, Andrews said, and her “daughter sees other kids wearing her clothes and she thinks it’s so cool.”

In many ways, the Jenkins Creek PTA is the wheels on the proverbial school bus that keep it rolling. But sometimes it’s hard to convince people that it really isn’t their mother’s PTA.

“People sometimes feel that PTA is a clique, which is not the case with us,” Collins said. “We want to spread the word that we want to include a lot of people. There are people who think you have to give a lot of your time to volunteer with the PTA, but three of the five of us have full-time jobs.”

There are many ways to volunteer from spending time in the classroom to giving an hour to stuff flyers into envelopes, to working at a book fair. In the end, the reward is worth the effort spent, the PTA officers said.

“You get to know people at the school,” Collins said. “I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of the community. I know what’s going on. And we have found that we really enjoy each other’s company. I wanted to work with people who really cared and who would contribute.”

Annual membership dues for PTA is $10 for an individual or $18 for a family.

There are other ways members of the community can help:

• If you shop at Safeway and have a rewards card, give the PTA your membership number, because when you spend money at Safeway, they contribute to the PTA every time you use the rewards card. This is part of the E-Script program.

• If you have printer ink cartridges that need to be recycled, contact PTA. A volunteer will pick up used cartridges and cell phones and turn them into cash for the school.

• Businesses can make donations or sponsor events.