For many years Loblaws has offered a Gift Card Program as a fund raising source for community organizations. Many of you may have run into this program with various sports or school organizations you have been involved with. For each Gift Card purchased under the program, Loblaws gives a percentage to the organization.

The Affordable Housing Committee at St John's has been exploring various options with respect to providing housing at an affordable rate to those in need, be it seniors, refugees, welfare recipients or the working poor. We have not yet settled on a specific project but there is no doubt that whatever project we undertake, it will cost money. As a way of funding a future project, the Affordable Housing Committee is introducing the Loblaws Gift Card Program at St Johns.

Here is how it works:

It's easy; you use Gift Cards as you would a debit card for your grocery purchases.

Loblaws offers Gift Cards in denominations of $250, $100, $50, $25 and $10.

The Gift Cards are good at Loblaws, Your Independent Grocer and No Frills.

The gift cards never expire. They are electronically debited until a zero value is reached.

The Committee would be offering the cards on a specific Sunday each month and would ask participants to provide post-dated cheques for several months. This will help to determine the number and denominations of cards to purchase.

Purchasers pick up their cards on the specified date, after church.

For newcomers to the program, each month there would be a limited number of cards available for purchase without having pre-ordered.

Depending on the number of cards purchased, a percentage of between 1-5% is earned by St John's Affordable Housing Committee.

Frequently asked Questions and Answers:

• Q.  What if I cannot make it to church on the specific Sunday when the cards are available for pick-up?
• A.  We will try to be flexible either by having a second Sunday in the month where cards would be available for pick up or by making special arrangements.



• Q.  How quickly will we reach the 5% rebate level?
• A.  The maximum discount is reached when the accumulated total of Gift Cards purchased reaches $50,000 in a calendar year. With 25 families at $200 per month, beginning in May, we will reach the 4% rebate level in October. If all 25 families continue into 2004, for the 2004 calendar year we would reach the 5% maximum rebate level by October, 2004. Of course the more families we have involved the more quickly we reach the higher rebate levels.



• Q.  What happens if I loose my card?
• A.  The cards are like cash. Once a card is lost, it cannot be replaced. Guard them as you would your cash.



• Q.  What happens if the electronic information on my card is erased by a magnet?
• A.  If you are in possession of your card, Loblaws can determine the amount that was still available on the card and reinstate it.



• Q.  Do I have to purchase my Gift Cards on a monthly basis?
• A.  No, all that is required is that you supply us with post-dated cheques. If you wish to purchase gift cards quarterly, simply prepare a post-dated cheque for each quarter.



• Q.  What if I know I will be away and do not want to purchase Gift Cards for a period of time?
• A.  Simply do not give us post-dated cheques for the months you do not wish to receive Gift Cards; or ask for your post-dated cheque back if you have already given it to us.



• Q.  What happens to my PC Mastercard points if I use this Gift Card program. ?
• A.  Gift Cards can only be purchased from us by cheque. You will not be able to collect PC Mastercard points if you use a Loblaws Gift Card.



• Q.  Can I purchase Gift Cards from St John's and give them to someone else?
• A.  Yes.



• Q.  Will you be offering a similar program for LOEB grocery stores?
• A.  We want to get this program going with Loblaws first. If after time we determine that there is sufficient interest in a similar program with LOEB, we will set it up then.

You can sign up this Sunday or next Sunday (27 April or 4 May), either in the Burke Room or at the back of the Church. The first cards will be ready for pick-up on May 11, 2003. If you have questions please feel free to speak to Barbara Dransch, Gloria Fox or Kathleen Arsenault.