As a public school kid in the '80s, collecting Labels for Education from Campbell's soup and related brand products was a year-round endeavor. Parents and teachers liked it because it meant that the school system could cash in those labels for free educational and sporting goods; kids liked it because most schools turned the collection drive into a contest, with the winning classroom or grade winning a prize. Who doesn't want a pizza party or a field trip?!
My sister and I used to enlist aunts, uncles, neighbors, and family friends to clip and save their labels for us (and since my uncle brought a couple cans of tomato juice in his lunch bucket every day when he worked at General Motors, we always had a pretty epic haul for our respective classrooms). As an adult, I've always followed suit, saving my labels over the years first for friends' kids and now for my own nephew.
It's not just the Labels for Education program that I save for these days, though: since 1996, General Mills and their partners have been running the Box Tops for Education program, with snippable tokens worth a dime each placed on a panoply of products from a wide variety of food and home supply brands. In the nineteen years since its inception, their program has provided a whopping $600 million to schools, daycare centers, and libraries across the nation (compared with $114 million over the 40 year history of the Campbell's program).
I pulled the baggy of labels and box tops down from my kitchen cork board the other day so that I could ship them off to my nephew, and the tally since my last shipment was 140 snipped box tops (worth $14) plus a Pathmark bonus slip with another 50 box tops (a $5 value), along with 41 Campbell's points (which don't have a set monetary value, but I reckon are worth about $1).
That's right around an even $20 that'll help support my nephew's school this year. Bear in mind that I'm a bachelor who lives alone, so that's just one man's soup (Progresso, Campbell's), cereal (Cheerios, Basic 4), bread (Pepperidge Farm) and pasta sauce (Prego). Imagine if every household in every school district took a moment to clip and save their points before recycling the cans, jars, and boxes bearing them? In my building, that would amount to almost $400. On my block, $16,000. Get the picture? Then get on board!
If you don't already, I encourage you to set aside a baggy or jar in your kitchen and start collecting box tops and labels from participating brands. I'm sure you'll be surprised at how quickly they add up. Even if there's no child in your life to whom you can pass them along directly, you can find a local school participating in the Campbell's program by entering your ZIP code at this site (if a school collects the less-valuable Campbell's labels, it will almost surely also collect General Mills box tops). It will list your local schools, along with the name of the coordinator at each institution. Just pop them in the mail to their attention!
Can you think of an easier way to generate FREE money for a good cause? I sure can't...but if I do, I'll certainly share it with you here at Little Ways to Change the World!
No comments:
Post a Comment