BRIAN GOODWIN, director of special programs for North Wasco County School District No. 21 and board president of the district’s nonprofit North Wasco County School District Education Foundation, checks out a new brochure and gift card for the major fundraising effort that opens to school parents this fall. Keri Brenner photo

Gift cards a ‘win-win’

New scrip program could raise up to $100,000 a year for schools at no cost to families

By By Keri Brenner
The Chronicle

     A new North Wasco School District Education Foundation program that partners business, schools, families and the community could be a “win-win” for everyone involved, said Brian Goodwin, project organizer.
     “My wife and I have two teenaged boys at home,” said Goodwin, board president of the foundation, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit. “I write one check a month for our groceries, and I get three gift cards at stores where I normally shop anyway — at no extra cost.”
     Goodwin said the gift card, or “scrip,” program “allows us to support the foundation and it’s a great way to budget.”
     “It’s super-quick and super-easy,” he added. “You just swipe the card and it tells you how much you have left.”
     Area stores, who want to both help the schools and also attract customers, sell the gift cards in bulk to the district at a discount.
     Families then buy the cards at face value, with the foundation recouping the difference between the discount and face value.
     “If the majority of district staff and parents participate, we could realize up to $100,000 a year,” Goodwin said. Money contributed to the foundation this year will go toward reintroduction of courses in welding, horticulture and leadership that fit into agricultural and Future Farmers of America programs at The Dalles Wahtonka High School.
     In general, the foundation wants to encourage “authentic, hands-on experiences that are tied into the community,” Goodwin said.
     “Things like working in school gardens and interviewing local historicans allow students to have a context for learning,” Goodwin said.
     “Traditionally, school courses across the country are so disconnected from the reality of their communities,” he added. “We’re hoping to tap into hands-on experiences that enhance student learning and help the community at the same time.”
     Goodwin, who is also special projects coordinator for the district, said he and other staff have been testing the gift card program for about nine months “to work the bugs out,” he said.
     Starting this fall, the foundation is opening the program up to district parents and familes.
     Participating stores are both local shops and national chains, ranging from Amazon.com to Fred Meyer to Home Depot to Safeway, Staples and Starbucks.      More than 40 stores are listed; another 20 or so can be special ordered.
Discounts to the district vary by store, ranging from 2 percent to 20 percent.
     Goodwin set up the program through the Great Lakes Scrip Co. after the foundation leaders saw that corporate and business donations to schools were declining due to the recession.
     “We decided to do this because, with the economy going over the cliff, it’s very difficult for a local business to write us a check.”
     Gift cards are available at the district office, 3632 W. 10th St, The Dalles, or at The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce office, 404 W. Second St., The Dalles.
     For more information, contact Goodwin at (541) 506-3420 or (541) 268-6861.      Checks are payable to North Wasco County School District 21 Education Foundation.