Saint Paul Lutheran Church

The 2013 order dates will be the 2nd Sunday of each month.

What is this, you may be asking? It's a virtually painless way for us to raise some of the money needed for mission trips. We can order cash/gift/scrip cards through the church. We pay face value for the cards. We get the full value of the card. Our mission fund gets a little percentage (on top of the card) for selling us the card. Some percentages are small and some are bigger, but even the smaller amounts add up. For example, I buy 4 cards to Shutterfly. It costs me $100. I get gift cards worth $100. Our fund gets an additional $9. Since I'm sure I will spend that money at Shutterfly, I am not out anything. And my parents are 92 years old. They don't want 'stuff' for Christmas. But they do go out to eat at Applebees. So I can buy gift cards to Applebees through our church. I'm happy - easy shopping. They are happy. And our fund gets an extra 8% on top of it. Most area businesses that participate are listed on the form -- but there are tons more that are not -- there is a web page address on the form where you can search for your favorite hotel, or for a restaurant near wherever YOUR parents live. The 'fine print' is there, too. For example, I don't shop at Walmart very often -- but I do shop at Sam's, and the Walmart card works at Sam's.

You print and fill out the form that is here: http://www.saintpaulpi.org/documents/order-form.pdf (or hardcopies are at church). Add it up. Write a check. Turn it in at church. The cards are nearly always here 4-5 days after we order. We order about once a month.

If it makes sense, offer this opportunity for easy cash/gift card shopping to your friends -- it's a great chance to talk about our mission trips!