When Shopping Online Pays For Education

By Eliza Hallabeck

In St Rose of Lima’s weekly newsletter this week, the school reminded parents that shopping online through the website www.boxtops4education.com can help raise money for participating schools, including St Rose of Lima and a number of other Newtown schools.

While the Box Tops for Education program has been around for years, shopping online has become a larger phenomenon on Thanksgiving day and Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving, when stores and online retailers offer sales and savings to eventgoers and online clickers.

Collecting money for schools through the Box Tops for Education program can happen throughout the year. A portion of the sale, whether online or collected from a real box from participating brands, goes to the school, but does not add to the cost for the shopper.

In addition to St Rose of Lima School, participating Newtown schools are Newtown Middle School, Fraser-Woods Montessori School, Middle Gate Elementary School, Hawley Elementary School, Head O’ Meadow Elementary School, Reed Intermediate School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Wesley Learning Center, and the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, according to the website.

The Box Tops for Education program participates with hundreds of online retailers. To have a portion of online sales go to a specific school, go to www.boxtops4education.com, click “earn” to register at the “Marketplace.” Then click on the icon of the store to shop. The online shopper will then be brought to the participating retailer’s website to shop online as usual. Full details on the program are also available online.

According to Box Tops for Education, online retailers include Bare Necessities, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Disney, iTunes, and many more.