Those Grocery Store Loyalty Cards Pay Off for Schools

Twenty thousand dollars is nothing to sneeze at. Neither is $10,000. Heck, these days, $2,000 or $3,000 shouldn't be sneezed at, sniffled at or coughed at, either. Those figures are routinely reached by the Washington area schools that most passionately embrace those grocery store loyalty card programs.

Last week, I urged readers to support Charles Hart Middle School in the District. (See below for instructions.) Today I want to showcase some local success stories. Mater Dei in Bethesda, for example. It was Giant Food's top A+ Bonus Bucks-earning school in the area last year, pulling in more than $20,000. Langley High School in McLean, Safeway's top earner, raised close to $12,000.

Here are Giant Food's top area schools and how much they raised in 2008-09:

Mater Dei School, Bethesda: $21,355.14; St. Pius X Regional School, Bowie: $14,317.79; Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn: $14,055.59; Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville: $10,938.11; McLean High School, McLean: $9,867.45; Langley High School, McLean: $9,278.98; Luxmanor Elementary School, Rockville: $8,821.70; Monsignor Slade Catholic School, Glen Burnie: $8,820.76; St. John the Evangelist School, Silver Spring: $8,319.69; Virginia Run Elementary School, Centreville: $8,209.60.

And here are Safeway's top earners:

Langley High School, McLean: $11,877.83; Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax: $10,478.49; St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School, Alexandria: $10,058.35; Mater Dei School, Bethesda: $9,156.37; Manor Woods Elementary School, Ellicott City: $8,746.49; Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn: $8,595.64; Lafayette Elementary School, Washington: $8,546.11; Centennial High School, Ellicott City: $7,927.87; Middletown Elementary School, Middletown, Md.: $7,933.43; St. Mary Elementary School, Annapolis: $7,384.03.

Wouldn't it be nice to see Hart Middle School on that list? If you have a loyalty card that isn't assigned to an area school, please designate Hart. Here's how:

For Giant, go to http://www.giantfood.com/aplus to re-enroll your card. Put in your 12-digit Giant card number and the first three letters of your last name and enter Charles Hart Middle School's identification number: 00271. Or you can call 877-275-2758. (If you don't know your Giant card number, call 877-366-2668.)

To re-enroll in Safeway's program, go to http://www.escrip.com and click on the red check mark that says "Renew your commitment to Safeway stores." Search for Hart, or enter the school's Safeway group ID number: 500023031. To sign up, go to http://www.escrip.com and click "1. Sign Up." You'll need the 11-digit number from your Safeway card. If you punch in your phone number at checkout instead of using your card, you can get your card number by calling 877-723-3929.

Hart is now signed up with Harris Teeter, too. If you have a VIC card, go to http://www.harristeeter.comand click on "Together in Education" near the bottom of the page. At the bottom of the next page, click on "Link your VIC card" and follow the instructions. Hart's Harris Teeter number is 8008.

What's That Smell?

If your house has become a haven for squarish brown bugs about the size of a thumbnail, you are not alone. The brown marmorated stink bug -- Halyomorpha halys -- has arrived.

"This is just the vanguard, basically," said University of Maryland entomologist Mike Raupp. In parts of Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey, it's not unusual to find thousands of them in a home.