Picture this: You make your usual visit to the department store. You fill your cart as always — household supplies, clothing, medicine — and head up front to check out. Your purchases are scanned and bagged, you get your total, and you pay $100. Guess what? You just made $4 for your kids’ school. On the way home, you pick up a pizza. There’s another $1.80 for John Paul II Elementary. Fill up your car with gas...more money for John Paul II!

Still not convinced? Half of the money from your SCRIP discount goes directly to the tuition account of your choice. Of the $5.80 you just contributed to the school in the above example, $2.90 goes directly to your tuition account. Your friends, neighbors and kids’ grandparents can buy SCRIP and have the money go to your account, too. Just ask them to mention your name when they pick up their SCRIP at the school office.

How’s that possible? Welcome to SCRIP, a decade-old fundraising concept with roots in California and a large, national future. The concept is simple. Schools purchase gift certificates, or scrip, from popular retailers (like Pizza Hut and Cabelas and more) at a discount, which the retailers are happy to give because they’re guaranteeing themselves customers and some goodwill advertising. Parents then buy the gift certificates from the school at face value. The difference in price is kept by the school. Parents then spend the scrip at the retailer, where it’s worth the full face value; they haven’t spent an extra dime to help the school, nor have they had to change stores.

SCRIP orders are placed twice a month. Certificates are available for pickup one week after the order is placed. Yes, it does require a bit of pre-planning, but think of the potential for the school! Think of the places in Mitchell you already do business with and purchase SCRIP to have on hand! Some Mitchell businesses are Shopko, KMart, McDonald's, Dakota Car Wash, Menards, Logan Luxury 5, KFC, Pizza Hut, Cabela's, JC Penney, Burger King, Shell Gas, and more!

Click here for the local Scrip order form

Click here for complete list of national SCRIP participants