Botelle parents think outside the box

By Katherine Pilbin

Parents of Botelle School students are endeavoring to raise money for educational equipment through three community participation programs. “Box Tops for Education,” “Labels for Education” and “Tools for Schools” all offer relatively easy ways to obtain educational equipment for Norfolk children outside of the school budget, with donations of box tops and labels from area residents.

“Box Tops for Education” provides three easy ways to earn cash for Botelle: clipping Box Tops coupons, shopping at the Market Place and using the Box Tops Visa card. Box Tops coupons can be found on hundreds of family favorite products such as General Mills, Ziploc, and Kleenex products. The Box Tops symbol with the expiration date on it is cut from participating products and donated to the school.

Box Tops has partnered with dozens of popular online stores to help earn even more cash. By shopping at the Box Tops Market Place, participants can visit more than 60 online stores including J.C. Penney and Lands End. When the online shopper visits the Market Place and enters into the participating stores website, a portion of every qualifying purchase is automatically donated to Botelle at no additional cost to the purchaser.

When using the Box Tops for Education Visa card, a full one percent cash back is earned on each purchase, including everyday purchases such as groceries, gas and dining out, for the designated school.

“Labels for Education” awards free educational equipment in exchange for proof of purchases from the participating Campbell products. Participants simply clip and save Universal Product Codes (UPC) and lids from participating products. Front panel labels are not accepted. The UPC Code/Bar with the “Labels for Education” logo must be on the clipping.

“Tools for Schools,” sponsored by Price Chopper, also provides points to earn educational equipment. Each shopper’s Price Chopper Advantage Card must be registered with Botelle School designated as the recipient of points earned. This program runs annually from late August to the end of December. Eligible products are marked throughout the store as qualifying for this program. At check-out time, the grocery receipt indicates how many points have been earned for the designated school.

A complete listing of participating products for each program is available on the following websites: www.boxtopsforeducation.com, www.labelsforeducation.com, www2.pricechopper.com. For more information, call 860-542-0178. Clippings for “Box Tops for Education” and “Labels for Education” can be dropped off at Botelle School or mailed to PO Box 55, Norfolk.