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Parkersburg High School Big Red Marching Band

BIG RED SCRIP PROGRAM

WHEN REGISTERING AT SHOPWITHSCRIP.COM, PLEASE USE THE ORGANIZATION CODE LAL6F26418812, IN ORDER FOR YOUR FUNDS TO BE PROPERLY CREDITED TO THE PHS BIG RED BAND.

Over the last two years, the board of directors of the Big Red Band Boosters Association has searched for a better way to do our fundraising. With the cost of everything going up, and wages not keeping pace with the cost of living, it's getting harder and harder for us all to keep current with our band fees. And, band fees haven't raised in a number of years but must go up eventually.

To combat this, the board set out this summer to find that better way. We think we have. The board has approved and instituted a program called "Big Red SCRIP." In cooperation with the Great Lakes Scrip Association, and the "Kroger Cares" program, we will offer to our members certain gift cards, or preloaded debit cards, to use when they make normal daily purchases. What's unique about these cards is that every time you buy them from the Boosters Association, a percentage of that purchase goes toward the band. Let's use the "Kroger Cares" card as an example. When you start this program, you purchase a Kroger reloadable gift card from the boosters for $5. Then, the next time you go to Krogers to shop for groceries, you put $100 on it, and use it to pay for your groceries. You will have just put $5.25 in the boosters checkbook! And, it cost you nothing other than the groceries you were going to buy anyway. You get to keep all $105 you have invested in that card. And then, when it runs low, simply go back to the Krogers customer service desk and reload it...voila! You just put even more money into the band.

Great Lakes Scrip offers to us over 350 national merchants who have cards similarly discounted, offering us anywhere from 2% to 17% donations to our organization. Some are reloadable online. Some you must purchase over when they are used. But, the bottom line is that each and every time you make a purchase using one of these cards, you are putting money back into the band. Sears, J.C. Penney, Panera Bread, KMart, Walmart, Lowes, Sams Club, Speedway, Marathon Gas, Home Depot, Kohl's, Cabelas, L.L. Bean, Starbucks...these are just a few of the hundreds of participating merchants you can chose from. To see a complete listing of them, click the link below.

The greatest thing about this program is that we don't sell anything to anyone. We only make the purchases we always do...food, gas, clothes, car repair...and, it's evergreen! Each time you use it, we benefit. It only takes planning and persistance on our part to make this work for our band. Oh, and everyone we know can do this with us. The only catch is that you MUST purchase the card through us in order to have it permanently linked to the Big Red Band's account.

Recent additions to the GL Scrip family include: Zappos.com, Dell computers, Overstock.com, and American Express gift cards. These following merchants are offering temporary increases on their contribution amounts (the original amount is in parenthesis): Dicks Sporting Goods 8% (5%); Bath and Body Works 18% (13%); Old Navy 11% (9%); Home Depot 4% (3%); JC Penney 6% (5%). Check the Merchant Listing button at the bottom of the page for current available merchants and their percentages.

Going into the future, we will have our SCRIP table open 3 times each month to order, or pick up scrip cards: the first and third Monday of each month, from 6 pm to 7 pm, and one Saturday each month to be announced, from 10 am to 11 am. We plan to be at the band room.

Please work with us, and give us time to get this program up and running. Other organizations we have found who use these programs make a tremendous amount of money from them, because their supporting families use them.