Hi Krystina! Thank you for inquiring about TOTS Eat! It's heart-warming to know that there are so many students and teachers in your community looking for ways to help others.
The name TOTS Eat is known in the community, and around the country, as a program of the International Thespian Society, and has been since 2003. We no longer record totals or offer awards for this initiative, but ITS troupes are still encouraged to participate, using the information and resources here:
https://www.schooltheatre.org/programs/totseat
I urge you to share this link with them, not only to demonstrate that the name is already in use, but also to share the resources available to help them have a successful food drive. Have you considered working together and combining efforts? Or if you need to work separately, could you offer to brainstorm together about another name that would be unique to the new group's activity?
------------------------------
Ginny Butsch
Community Engagement Manager
Educational Theatre Association
Alexandria KY
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 10-10-2019 14:21
From: Krystina Thiel
Subject: Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat
Is this name owned by the Internation Thespian Society? There is a group at my school who decided to do a food drive using TOTS as their event name. Both high schools in my town still follow the TOTS guidelines for our food drives. I informed the group about using an event name that is tied to ITS and they informed me that they don't care and will use the name anyway. Is there something that can be done legally?