There has been some extreme couponing happening at the Ross Medical Education Center Port Huron, MI campus. Students, staff, and faculty have been busy collecting newspaper inserts and clipping coupons to send to the Troopons program, which is run by the national Support Our Troops organization.
Through the Troopons program, manufacturer coupons for food, household items, hygiene, and baby products are sent to on-base commissaries in the United States and overseas. The coupons are then made available to military shoppers who are welcome to sort through and utilize them toward their purchases.
How does sending these coupons help? Most coupons are found in magazines and newspapers, which may not fit into the tight budgets of some military families. Also, overseas currency exchange rates don’t always favor the American dollar. Therefore, a grocery budget doesn’t go as far as it would here in the United States. Savings on the grocery bills of our military families can be put toward other expenses, help families make ends meet, and maybe provide some extras they may not otherwise be able to afford.
The program has been well-received by military families stationed all around the globe. A survey of commissaries who utilize this special program revealed that 60% of base families make use of the coupons several times each month, with some families using them on a weekly basis.
When the students at the Port Huron campus learned about the Support Our Troops mission, they were excited to collect coupons. Some even came to the campus early before class or stayed after class to volunteer their time to cut coupons in the student lounge to donate to this important cause.
Many of the staff and faculty members spread the word to families and friends to help promote the coupon collection. A designated coupon table was on display in the main lobby of the campus throughout the month of January so that campus guests were also made aware of this special community service project. As a result of this concerted effort, the Port Huron campus was able to collect over 1,000 coupons that have been organized and shipped to Support Our Troops.
Please visit the Support Our Troops website at https://www.supportourtroops.org for information about the Troopons program, as well as other programs run by this wonderful organization.