Extreme Couponing For Good

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting with Rhonda Smith @rhondasmithVL the founder of Save It Forward. Save it Forward is an initiative of Alive Ministries, Inc. that partners with local schools to meet the needs of hungry kids & their families.

We use extreme couponing & teach others how as one of our methods to collect items for the students. We teach you how to get items for free or almost free making it easy for you to be a generous giver.

Rhonda was amazing! Her story is so genuine. She began “extreme couponing” for her family and quickly realized that they could generate lots of grocery items. So, in 2010 she took her knowledge of extreme couponing and turned it into a way to help others.

Here is how it works…

Save it forward has partnered with two local churches to develop “Couponers” and ‘Shoppers.” Couponers save their weekly circulars and bring them to church on Sundays. Those are then collected, collated, clipped and sorted by item. The sorted coupons go into envelopes with instructions for the Shoppers.

Shoppers pick up the coupon packs on Sundays. During the week they will go out and get the items. The items are then returned the next Sunday and Pay it forward collects them and stores the items in their food pantry.

Save It Forward has partnered with a local school in order to distribute their items. After meeting with the principle, they were given a room in the school to use for the food pantry. They are going into a second school very soon and have been invited into a third.

I have several reactions to this meeting. ..

I am truly blown away by the innovative idea of what Rhonda and Save It Forward is doing. This idea could not be more timely with the onset of America’s latest craze of Extreme Couponing. It is an engaging way for individuals to do a simple act of love that goes a long way.

I want to be involved. I look forward to see how Project Live Love can partner with her in the future. One small way anyone can be involved is by sending in your weekly mailer.

Get involved…

For more information on Save It Forward visit their website ishopforhungrykids.com or find Rhonda on twitter.