By Larry Stover

 

Has the financial crunch hit your home yet? Most of us can feel, at least, a little squeeze. Paychecks are smaller, costs are skyrocketing, everyone is looking for a bargain. More people are anxious to see the sales ads in the Sunday and Wednesday newspapers.

Many in our community have either lost a job or have been reduced to part-time status at their place of work. Others no longer receive over time.

It has affected our entire community. Businesses are feeling the crunch. Nearly all of my fellow pastors I speak with are dealing with a reduced offering to operate by. Budget crunching seems to be the topic of the day.

While that crunch has affected all of us, our schools are struggling to find ways to cut costs and still provide the best education they can for our children.

Teachers and administrators are taking up much of the slack by purchasing much needed supplies from their own budget.

I would like to suggest four ways that every family can participate in helping our schools financially.

First of all, I want to encourage readers to take the time to clip the “Box Tops for Education” labels off of the hundreds of products that have them on their packaging. They are worth 10 cents each. That may not seem like a lot, but collectively, it amounts to a lot of money. At the Stover house we average 10 or more a week. But that is only a dollar you say? Imagine if every family in Dallas County did that — there would be thousands of dollars added to school budgets.

Secondly, I would encourage everyone to cut the coupon off the Campbell’s soup labels. This is another way to help our schools.

Thirdly, save the wrappers off of “Sunny Delight” juice containers. Every label equals a free book for the school library.

My fourth and final request is extended to all of the employees at International Paper. Those of you who have cases of copy paper sitting around, our schools could desperately use them.

These four requests would not hurt anyone financially. Yet, it would be such a big boost for our local schools.

If you have children who attend public schools, these programs are already in place. Other than the copy paper, your kids can take the rest of it to school.

If you do not have kids in our public schools, find a neighbor who does. I’m sure they would be happy to get these items to their school.

You can mail the labels to me: 1 Big Pine Drive, Valley Grande, AL 36701. If you have copy paper, call the church at 874-8041 and I will pick it up.

Our kids are worth the time to help during these difficult financial times. When we work together, it makes life “Simply Beautiful!”