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This is a reminder for all those who receive the
Sunday paper to keep the coupon section and bring it
with you to the Wing meetings. If you cannot
make it to the meeting but have coupons to donate
there is a box in the Hangar when you walk in that
you can place them in. If you are able to prepare
the coupons yourself that would be greatly
appreciate, please see the steps below. However if
you do not have the time to put into coupon
preparation but still have Sunday coupons that you
would be willing to donate please bring them with
you to the Monthly Wing Meetings and give them to
Tony Condon (Leah Condon has volunteered to cut out
the coupons!)
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What type of Coupons?
“Manufacturer’s
Coupons” are
the coupons of choice since they are accepted at any
store. Coupons from the dispensers in grocery stores,
from the internet and from your local newspaper inserts,
and dozens of other places are good as long as those
magic words are on them: "Manufacturer's Coupon."
Expired Coupons?
2 Months Max!
Yes expired coupons are accepted. We recommend not
sending any coupons older than 2 months expired on the
date of shipment. They can use them for a couple of
months after that but remember that the volunteers at
the base must process the coupons once they arrive and
get them out to be used. We also need to leave enough
time for them to have the families sort through them and
find the ones they want for use.
What type of coupons NOT to
send?
Do NOT
send Assistance Vouchers, Food Stamps, or any other
assistance items, which generally have a personal name
on them or are issued for a specific person to use.
Store coupons, those only good at the store named are
useless on a military base overseas. The stores there
are the BX/PX or the Commissary. (See below) Do NOT send
restaurant coupons.
Sort the Coupons
Most bases have 2 stores. One is called
the “Commissary” which is a grocery store and the other
is the PX or BX which is a department store. We
therefore ask you to sort the coupons into “food” and
“non-food” bundles so that they can more easily be
placed in the correct venue once they arrive at the
base. If a base wants additional sorting they will let
you know but this is the standard sort that OCP is aware
of.
How to package the coupons?
Use
baggies, envelopes, etc., to contain the different
categories -- whatever will keep them separated during
shipment.
(Do NOT use
rubber bands, paper clips, and similar methods of
keeping the coupons sorted as they do not work
and will come apart in shipping).
Be sure to label the bundles!
It is important to label the bundles
"Food"
and
"Non-Food" or as the base requests.
What's "Food" and what's not?
Here's my rule of thumb: It's food if it can be eaten by
humans, is usually eaten by humans, and is normally
eaten to provide calories. For example, dog & cat food
would be
"Non-Food",
but Ensure or Slim-Fast would be
"Food."
Vitamins would be
"Non-Food".
Chewing Gum and Mints are food.
Tally the coupons
Add up the face
value dollar amount for the coupons. And write the
dollar amount on each envelope/bag
of coupons
How do I
total coupons without a face value?
"Buy one, get one
free" offers usually have a maximum value printed on
them. If not, make your best guess.
Buy something, get something by mail
offers (e.g., get a stuffed bear for purchasing boxes of
Sudafed products) count for zero, but please send them
anyway! (These things make nice, inexpensive Christmas
gifts for the children.)
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