By Sue Moore
Some things never change. In the 1940s, 50s, 60s, the Box Top ladies of the Hospital Guild in Vicksburg collected box tops to turn into cash. They were able to purchase several new pieces of equipment for Franklin Community Hospital down through the years.
Now students in Vicksburg’s elementary schools are collecting box tops to turn into cash. At Sunset Lake Elementary last year, the money bought Chromebook computers for each student. The box top money has also purchased playground equipment, enhancements for the school’s courtyard and facility improvements.
Some of the common brands that offer box top coupons include Ziploc bags, Hefty, Lysol, cereals, snacks, yogurt tubs, Annie’s brand, Old El Paso and many more, eligible if they’re within a printed expiration date. The PTSO set $6,000 as its goal for the 2017-2018 school year and just redeemed $1,582 in box tops. They are collected all year round but redeemed in December and March. Since the program started at Sunset they have earned $37,176.
It all goes to a good cause and Rachelle Caswell of the Sunset PTSO is urging parents, grandparents and friends to save the box tops and drop them off in a collection box just inside the door of the elementary building.
And there’s another fundraiser, this one working with Family Fare in Vicksburg and other SpartanNash stores, including D&W in Kalamazoo: Shoppers drop off grocery receipts from the stores. When the school collects $150,000 in receipts, SpartanNash through its Direct Your Dollars program will send Sunset Lake PTSO $1,000 to use any way it chooses. At the price of groceries these days, it shouldn’t take long for the school to reach that $150,000 plateau if people will save their receipts, Caswell said.
The school works to raise money for extras that tax dollars don’t support through a Walk-athon on Friday, May 4. This usually is directed toward the businesses in Vicksburg which sponsor entrants or provide donations based on how many miles children can walk during the event.
Sharon Visser, this year’s president of the PTSO, designated Caswell to head up the box top collections. She and her husband Cody have three children at Sunset. He came here as the JV football coach, assists with the track program at the high school and was a Vicksburg graduate a few years ago.