Collecting Box Tops for Education with Hefty

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Let me tell you a story… a story about a school that is underfunded and under enrolled and greatly counts on volunteers and donations and fundraising to supplement our children’s education. Last year our PFO (Parent Faculty Organization) was hurting for money. School had just begun and we had a shortfall in our account. Our big yearly fundraiser was still a few months away and we were scrounging to figure out how we’d be able to pay for our art program, field trip busses, and extra school supplies. The money just wasn’t there. We weren’t sure what we were going to do when something remarkable happened. We received a check, a large one, from Box Tops for the coupons that we had mailed in months before. It was unexpected… and it completely saved us. We had the funds we needed to move forward and we built up our PFO reserves. We were able to reschedule school assemblies and field trips. We were able to get back on our feet.

To say we have a special affinity for the Box Tops program would be an understatement. Okay, I’ll say it… WE LOVE BOX TOPS!

We have less than a month before we begin a new school year and we are already counting on this being our best year for Box Top collections. Lucky for us, Hefty has a specially marked packages of trash bags that feature 4 Box Tops for a back to school limited time program. I had to pick some the last time I was at Target because, hey, you can’t turn down 4 Box Tops!

Hefty has raised more than $3 million in contributions to schools by partnering with Box Tops For Education and they are the only trash bag to do so. Next time you’re out shopping, look for the specially marked packages in Lavender Vanilla and Clean Citrus.

As we prepare to go back to school and start requesting Box Tops for the new year, I decided that I could make collecting a little more fun by creating an actual Collection Box that we could keep in our school office. That’s part of being the new PFO President that I’m most excited about - getting to create some fun new ways to get our parents involved. My kids have been going to our neighborhood public school for 10 years already. I only have 2 more years before we age out and I want to make the most of the time we have left there.

This is going to be a great reminder to parents to bring in their box tops.

BOX TOP TUTORIAL

Supplies:

• Large Banker’s Box
• Colored Paint
• Foamcore Board
• Sharpie Markers
• Pencils
• Ruler/Straight Edge
• Elmer’s Glue

Step 1: I used a white Banker’s Box, but you can use any type of box you want. You want to make sure it has a lid on it because with all the Box Tops you’ll be collecting you wouldn’t want any to fall out. I painted the large part of the box green and the top part I painted pink. Try and get as close to the colors of the Box Tops as you can.

Step 2: Once your box is painted, set aside to dry. You will be working on the top of the box next. Time to get out your foamcore board. I used the box top as a template to get the size right and cut out a square to fit the top while extending out about 1/4 inch over the edge of the box cover. I then cut out an opening leaving a 1 1/2″ frame.

Step 3: Once you have your frame, glue it on to the box top. Your next step will be to cut out the pencil. I started with a piece of foamcore that was about 19″ long - you’ll want the eraser and the pencil tip to extend beyond the box top a little bit. Cut one edge off to make the tip of the pencil.

Step 4: I used markers to color the pencil rather than paint, only because it gave me more control.

Step 5: Once the pencil is colored in, I free-handed the lettering. You can also print it out or use stencils or stickers. Whatever you are most comfortable with. For the lettering on the top of the box that says B O X T O P S, I found a template website online that let you type in whatever words you wanted and you could print them out.

 

Step 6: I cut the letter out and traced the outer edges with a purple marker to replicate the lettering on the actual Box Top. Next, I glued them onto the box.

I have to say, I thought it came out pretty cute. I might not be the craftiest person around, but I love making things that will help out our school. We’ve already started looking for products to purchase that have Box Tops for Education labels on them. I’m really hoping this year we’ll have a record number of parents helping us collect as well.

I’m doing my part to help our school collect Box Tops. How will you be helping your school this year?

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