Saratoga News

Chamber aims to recognize stores and publicize school scrip

By Sarah Lombardo

There's a big blue umbrella and a picnic table in front of Saratoga's Argonaut Elementary School. But it's not the umbrella, the table or who is at the table that will be featured on a Web page sponsored by the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce--it's what can be purchased at that table that will grace the Internet. It's scrip.

The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce wants to add a page to its Saratoga Community Web site that tells all about scrip and how it works for schools in the Saratoga Union School District. Still in the planning stages, the proposed page would contain information on what scrip is and where it can be purchased. It will also explain what scrip does for the district's four schools; according to Susan Finocchio, a Saratoga Education Foundation board member, "It's doing miracles. It really is."

Scrip is a program run by the SEF that works with local stores and markets to raise money for Redwood Middle School and Argonaut, Saratoga and Foothill elementary schools.

This is how it works: SEF purchases a certain amount of scrip coupons from merchants--including, locally, Gene's Market, Safeway supermarket and Longs Drugs--at a discounted price. The schools then sell the coupons for face value to parents and residents, who can then use the coupons to purchase merchandise or groceries at participating stores. The proceeds are then put into SEF coffers and used to provide grants to the four schools. This year, Finocchio said, it's estimated that scrip will bring in between $65,000 and $70,000 of the approximately $375,000 the SEF expects to raise.

Purchasers of scrip do not pay any more for the coupons than they would spend at the store; for example, if a parent buys a scrip coupon for $100, he can then buy $100 worth of groceries at the store.

"For the consumer, it's helping the schools without any money out of their pockets," Ray Froess, the Chamber's coordinator for the Saratoga Community home page, says.

Typically, few people besides parents or those active in the schools know about the scrip program. But through the Web page, Froess said, the Chamber hopes to change that. The Saratoga community home page already contains a number of informational links related to business and the community, including pages on the Chamber's upcoming blood drive and the Community Parade. Froess said that including a page for the scrip would benefit both the Chamber and the schools.

"The reason for putting the page up is that besides being good citizens, it will attract more attention both to the site's advertisers and businesses and the scrip," he said.

Froess said he and home page creator and owner Dave Delgado--who provides and maintains the site for the Chamber--have the tools needed to create the page, and are just waiting to coordinate with the SEF on the information that will be on the page.

So when will the page be up and running?

"I'm ready when they're ready," Froess said.

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