Holiday Deals that Benefit PS 8
Dear PS 8 Families and Friends --
In the spirit of the holiday shopping frenzy soon to engulf us, we wanted to offer a few ideas to help make your holiday shopping easy and relaxing, while hugely benefiting "PS Gr8!"
GIFT CARDS AND CERTIFICATES:
The PTA of PS 8 is selling special holiday gift cards and gift certificates for local stores that have agreed to donate a percentage of the purchase back to our school. You can purchase your gift cards at PTA meetings, the upcoming Pot Luck Dinner and in the Parent Room at school. A schedule of days when you can buy them will be posted outside the Parent Room. Here's a rundown of local retailers who have authorized us to sell their gift cards and gift certificates:
Heights Kids-- Buy Local! This year, instead of adding to your virtual cart at various toy emporiums on the internet, patronize your local toy store. Heights Kids, located at 85 Pineapple Walk, has generously offered to donate a percentage of all PS 8 generated gift card sales this holiday season back to our school. The PTA will be selling Heights Kids gift cards in increments of $25, of which 15 percent goes to PS 8.
Gnarly Vines-- Looking for just the right bottle of wine to bring to that dinner party? Don't know your Bordeaux from your Barolo? Quit your whining; just stop by this Fort Green wine store recently opened by PS 8 parent and resident wine expert Brian Robinson. Buy a special Gnarly Vines/PS 8 holiday gift certificate from the PTA and 15 percent of your purchase goes to help PS 8! (How GREAT!) Gnarly Vines is located at 350 Myrtle Ave, but you can buy your gift certificate in the Parent Room. They also make great holiday gifts for friends and for those we like to send a special thank you to at this time of year. Check the schedule posted outside the PS 8 Parent Room and check out www.gnarlyvines.com (gnarly vines make the best wines...).
PS 8 HOLIDAY COUPONS:
The PTA is also distributing coupons to other great neighborhood haunts. When you use them at the following great stores, 10 to 15 percent of your purchases will be donated to our school. (Our coupon supply is limitless, so stop by the Parent room if you need more). Here's a rundown of the local businesses that have made us this generous offer:
PS Bookshop-- Located at 145A Front Street in DUMBO, this is another local store that supports our school and that our school supports. It has a fantastic collection of rare books, first editions and out-of-print books from your childhood (and your adulthood), not to mention a sizeable collection of children's books in French, German, Spanish and other languages. Really worth a stop--especially during story hour (4-5 p.m. Sundays). Ten percent of children's books sales go to support PS 8 when you use your coupon.
Stewart/Stand-- For young hipsters on your list or hipster wannabes (relatives in Ohio;)), checkout this new DUMBO hi-concept gift shop located at 165 Front Street. Cool household gadgets, toys, titanium cuff links and stainless steel wallets (for the man who has everything) AND 10 percent of you purchases (15 percent on items made by Stewart/Stand) go to PS 8 when you use your PS 8 coupon. You can also buy online at www.stewartstand.com, just enter PS 8 in the comments box when you check out, and PS 8 gets 10 to 15 percent of the sale. It doesn't get any hipper than that!
SHOP ON-LINE:
Check out these on-line shopping options for your holiday gifts, and PS 8 will get a percent of what you spend. Just pick PS 8 as your designated recipient and start shopping.
Sally Foster-- For candy, candles, great gift-wrapping, gift bags, ribbons, bows and name cards--all the little things you run around looking for at the last minute this time of year, not to mention perfect mother-in-law gifts, Sally Foster is a great resource and a whopping 50 percent of these sales goes to PS 8 when you designate our school's code (923024) when prompted. Available on-line at www.sallyfoster.com.
Giveline.com-- Giveline is an on-line store created for the community-minded shopper. It sells best-selling movies, books, CDs, electronics and gifts for the home. Depending on the item, PS 8 stands to earn anywhere from 7 to 33 percent from every purchase. The site is very user-friendly. Select your cause at the top right hand corner of the screen (Public School 8, The Robert Fulton School) and then you're off and running. If you always get your Dad the latest best-seller, this year get it from www.giveline.com. For the picky on your list, Giveline also sells gift cards.
eScrip-- Some of the biggest names in retailing, including Macy's, Barnes & Noble, Lands End, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer, the GAP and more, participate in eScrip, a program that contributes a percentage of your "loyalty" card, credit card and/or debit/ATM card purchases to the group or organization of your choice--in this case Robert Fulton Public School 8 (Our Group ID is 6548533). Visit www.escrip.com, register the cards you want to use for eScrip and then shop. Donated percentages vary according to the "merchant partners". eScrip also tracks your purchases online, allowing you to see just how much you're earning on your school's behalf.
Target-- This option is for parents who already have, or think they could use, a Target credit card (or Redcard). We're not advocating shopping on credit, but if you do shop at Target a lot (who doesn't?) and think you would like to have either a Target Redcard or a Target Visa credit card, you can designate PS 8 to receive one percent of your Target Redcard purchases or .5 % of your Target Visa Credit card purchases made everywhere Visa cards are accepted. While 1% may not sound like a lot it can add up to something significant. One PS 8 parent has already earned the school approximately $350 though this great program. To find out more about this, visit www.target.com, scroll down to Community and look for the "Take Charge of Education Program," or call 1-800-316-6142.
No matter where or how you shop, do your research online beforehand and don't forget to use www.goodsearch.com or www.searchandgive.com as your search engine. When you designate PS 8 as your charity of choice, we earn a little money every time you look for something, even if you're just e-browsing...
Cheers and happy holidays from the PTA of PS 8.
Posted on: November 30, 2007
