Dollars for Students Program Celebrates Another Successful Year
This year's donation of more than $72,000 brings the total donated to area schools to $1.3 million since 1990.

(YOUNGSTOWN, OH) - 2006 marks the 16th year of Sparkle Market's Dollars for Students program which provides money to local schools. This year, Sparkle donated more than $72,000 to participating schools in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Since its inception, the program has generated total donations of more than $1.3 million.

During the program, which began in mid-September, individuals collect specially colored register tapes from their local Sparkle store and take them to a participating school in their community. Once the program has ended the Sparkle Markets Association donates one percent of the eligible register tape totals to the school. A key feature of the program is that school officials can use the donated funds in any manner they choose. Typical expenditures include field trips, band equipment, sports uniforms or facility improvements.

"We decided it was important to let the schools decide what they wanted to use the money for," said Sparkle Association President Sandy Zander. "It has been very successful, and we are happy to have contributed so much to our area children."

The program came out of a realization that area schools often experience a lack of funding; members of the Sparkle Markets Association decided to address that concern by implementing a program that would help schools continue to provide extracurricular activities to their students.