SCRIP/ Food for Thought Program

06-03-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Charlie

Dear Friends,

It has been more than 20 years that merchant cards have been sold at OLMC to help fund school expenses. This program, administered by the Home and School Association, has benefitted many teachers and their students over the years. School volunteers standing in their spot selling cards after the Sunday Masses is a sight we are all accustomed to seeing.

Much has changed since the program was "first initiated—especially with the way that so much is done online. Today, schools in our diocese that still have SCRIP programs do all of their transactions online. These online sites allow you to purchase the cards and credit our school account, all from the comfort of your home.

After weighing all sides of the issue with the school and the parish leadership, we have decided to end our in-person SCRIP program. Besides the convenience of buying the cards online, it means that the parish does not need to maintain a large inventory of cards on hand to sell. This point has been stressed to us over the past two years by the Diocesan Finance Office and the company which did our parish "Financial audit last fall. Our Insurance Company also informed us that they would not reimburse us if, for whatever reason, we should incur any loss of the inventory.

To be clear—we are still asking the school parents and all parishioners to participate in our SCRIP program, but to do so online. The school will continue to benefit from all of your shopping if you purchase these cards. The company that we want to use is RaiseRight.com. When you go to sign up, they will ask you for an enrollment code to link your purchases to OLMC. Our code is 16CBC864979

We will still need your help to sell off our current inventory of cards. Instructions on which brands are available and how to purchase them will be announced shortly.

Thank you to Cindy Younger and LeeAnne Cardenas for their years of managing this very complex program. And thanks to the Home and School volunteers as well as the many parents who have generously given their time after Mass on Sundays to offer the cards.

God’s blessing,

Fr Charlie