SHOPPING DOLLARS
FREE TUITION FOR SCHOOL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION!!
or FREE GIFT CARDS for VARIOUS STORES
Thru the Shopping Dollars &/or Scrip Programs – Gift Cards
FAMILIES HAVE EARNED OVER $400 IN CREDITS TOWARD THEIR TUITION
St. John the Beloved School Development Fund offers ALL PARISHIONERS the Shopping Dollars & Scrip Programs. SJB school & religious ed. parents may merit tuition credits! This program is made possible through our many volunteers. The commitment is only a few hours per month and is great way for ALL PARISHIONERS to volunteer; easy for working parents, too. Please contact Bonnie Di Michele at 235-2093 if you are interested.
What are the Shopping Dollars and Scrip Programs?
They are GIFT CARDS!! It’s easy, it’s convenient and it costs you NOTHING! EVERYONE purchases groceries and shops retail; EVERYONE can help us meet our goal!
Shopping Dollars are gift certificates that ALL parishioners can immediately purchase to use at their favorite grocery & retail stores. SJB Development Fund purchases gift certificates in bulk at a 5% discount and resells them to the parishioners at face value in $50 increments. The Development Fund immediately returns 2% to the parishioners through a $1 credit voucher (see below) attached to each $50 envelope. The Development Fund retains the remaining 3% as their fundraiser.
The Scrip Programs are gift certificates from over 300 retailers that parishioner can order through shopwithscrip.com (see below to set up an account). Parishioners pay face value for the gift certificate and will receive $1 credit voucher for every $50 increment purchased. Shopwithscrip.com offers gift cards at a discount to non-profit organizations. If you don’t have a computer, contact Diane Oliver at 737-5741
These are WIN-WIN programs for all who participate, thanks to the generosity of our participating retailers, who sell their certificates at a discount.
What Retailers are participating in the programs?
Through the Shopping Dollars Program, the retailers immediately available for purchase are Acme, Shop-Rite, Pathmark, Zingos, Wahlgreens, Kmart, Kohls, Pennys & Sears. Please note: Kohls can be used as payments on your charge account. Plus, thru the Scrip Order Program, there are over 300 stores including but not limited to food, clothing, merchandise, eateries, hotels, airlines and on-line shopping. Go to shopwithscrip.com to see the complete list. Some participating retailer: I-Tunes, Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot, Lowes, Movie Theaters, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, GAP, Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, Aeropostale, Panera Breads, Kmart, Shoprite, Acme, Pathmark, Boscovs, Boston Market, Bruesters’s IceCream, Bertuucci’s Restaurant, hotels, airlines, fastfood, etc.
Are the gift cards/certificates difficult to use at the store?
Absolutely not! They are used just like cash. There is no delay at the checkout counter.
How does the credit voucher work?
Free tuition credit towards pre-k, school, religious education and confirmation class tuition
Certificates are sold in $50 increments. For every $50 purchased, you will instantly receive a credit voucher for $1. For example, if you buy $200 worth of gift certificates, you will receive $4 worth of vouchers. Buy certificates and collect vouchers throughout the year. Every September, total your vouchers. Deliver all of your vouchers along with the total to the rectory and the credit amount will be applied to your October tuition payment. If you pay your tuition in full, simply reduce your total tuition payment by the total of your vouchers and deliver your payment and vouchers to the rectory. Please specify for which tuition program: pre-k, tuition, religious education (grade school or high school) or confirmation. The vouchers are also transferable! This allows friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, whomever…to purchase gift certificates and give the tuition voucher to families with school children.
What if I do not have a child in school or in religious education?
You can either donate your credit back to the Development Fund or you can earn additional gift certificates. When you collect $25 in vouchers, you can turn in your vouchers and receive a $25 gift certificate from either: Acme, Shop-Rite, Pathmark, Zingos or Wahlgreens.
How do I purchase the gift certificates?
For the Shopping Dollar Program, three convenient options are offered:
- The gift certificates are sold in the back or outside of church before and after the 5:30 pm Mass on Saturdays and the 9:00 am and 10:45 am Masses on Sundays. There are no sales on holiday weekends.
- You can send your order and check into school on Mondays-Fridays, on full days only. Put your order and check in an envelope marked “Shopping Dollars Order”. Put your child’s name and homeroom on the outside of the envelope along with a daytime phone # if we should have a question. Your gift certificates and vouchers will be sent home the same day. If for some reason we cannot completely fill the order your check will be returned to you.
- You can purchase certificates through the Rectory during office hours of Monday-Friday, 8:30-6:30.
Please make your check payable to “St. John the Beloved”. Order forms are available on the parish website www.sbjde.org or on the school website www.saintjohnthebelovedschool.org.
For the Scrip Program visit shopwithscrip.com to set up you account. Click on “Family Sign Up” and complete the form. The SJB code is D7FA9DCA12953. Watch the bulletin and school newsletter for order due dates. You can also send your email address to shop4dollars@saintjohnthebeloved.org to receive email reminders of due dates.
You can place your Scrip Order by:
- Get the order form from the parish or school websites. Complete the order form and bring it to the rectory or send your order through school. All envelopes should be marked “Scrip Order” with your name (or child’s and homeroom #) and a daytime phone number. Make your check payable to St. John the Beloved for the full payment.
- You can place your order at www.shopwithscrip.com and make your payment with PrestoPay (there is a very small fee to use PrestoPay) or you can send a copy of your order along with a check made payable to St. John the Beloved in an envelope marked “Scrip Order” with your child’s name, grade and a daytime phone number where you can be reached if we have any questions. You can send your order through school or drop off your order at the rectory. Order forms are available on the parish website www.sbjde.org or on the school website www.saintjohnthebelovedschool.org.
- Orders are placed approximately once per month and more frequently near the holidays.
How can my purchases make a difference?
The true power of the Shopping Dollars Program is in the number of participants. For example: For a family that purchases $150 a week for one year, they will accumulate $156 in tuition credits and earn $234 for the Development Fund. Now, just imagine the power of the program if we increase participation to 500 families. 500 families purchasing $150 a week for 1 year will amount to $78,000 in tuition credit and $117,000 will go directly to the Development Fund. With the construction of our new parish buildings, our Development Fund has been depleted. The Annual Fund Drive along with the Shopping Dollar and Scrip programs are our main sources of income for restoring our Development Fund.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
The true power of these programs, are in the number of participants. We are in need of volunteers to assist in the sales thru school, Tuesday nights during Religious Education classes, as well as before & after Mass. Please contact Bonnie DiMichele at 235-2093 or email her at bonniedimichele@comcast.net if you are interested in volunteering.