Becoming a Believer in SCRIP - and Helping Our Church

by Kathy Gray

When I first heard about the SCRIP program I wondered - with the economic situation as it is, where would we find the extra money to begin to participate?  After spending time with Ray Fournier and Theresa Neves on Sunday mornings for about a year I decided to give it a try.  We had changed banks and this helped make starting the program easier.  I told Ray we would participate as long as the budget allowed.  Everyone at coffee hour cheered when I announced I was going to buy SCRIP cards.

Since then it has been a joy to participate knowing that we are helping the church.

The SCRIP program is an easy, painless way to help the church which involves no extra money.  We all budget for groceries, restaurants, home repairs, and numerous other things.  When you purchase a gift card through SCRIP, the retailer has agreed to give a percentage of the purchase to St. Paul’s, while they honor the card at face value.  This can be helpful when preparing for a vacation.  I bought restaurant coupons to use when we travel as many retailers have locations nationwide.

SCRIP is also great to use for Christmas and birthday gifts, and any other time you might want to present a gift card.  One might also buy cards weekly in small amounts to plan for a larger purchase without stressing the budget – and you are making an extra contribution to the church as well.

Personally I think the best thing about the program is that using the cards at a store is “identity theft” proof – just like using cash.  That is very helpful with a last name like “Gray” and some of the security breaches that have occurred recently at large retailers.

Stop by the SCRIP table and talk to someone.  You will see how simple, easy and do-able the program really is.