H.O.P.E.
(Help Our Parish Educate)

Are you a coupon clipper? Do you check out the grocery specials? Do you contribute 6% to your 401k plan with each paycheck? If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, then you can appreciate how a few cents (or dollars) eventually add up to something substantial. The H.O.P.E. (Help Our Parish Educate) program here at St. James is based on the same idea. Through the generous support of our local Hy Vee store, we can earn 5% each time you buy groceries using the HOPE certificates. Here's how it works: Hy Vee allows the HOPE program to purchase gift cards from their store at a 5% discount. Then, we sell the gift cards to parishioners at the face value, which then can be used like cash at the grocery store. For example, if you purchase a $100 gift card to Hy Vee, the HOPE program retains a $5.00 profit, and you have a $100 card (like a prepaid phone card) that you can use as you wish at Hy Vee. You don't have to spend the entire amount at one time; the store computer keeps track of what value is left on the card. The Hy Vee cards come in $25, $50, and $100 denominations. It costs you nothing extra to participate in this program, except a few minutes after mass to buy the certificates. And the best part is, the profit is used by all the education ministries here at our parish. The HOPE profits have provided new materials for Religious Ed, St. James School, Vacation Bible School, have completely funded missions available for the entire parish, and even more! Currently, an average of 40-50 families support H.O.P.E. each week for a profit averaging $250. Imagine, if 100 families would buy $100 worth of groceries with HOPE certificates in one week, we would profit $500.00! Multiply that by 52 weeks. Wow, our education ministries could provide even more! Please consider stopping by the table in the narthex after mass and supporting the HOPE program. You can also purchase the certificates during business hours at the Parish Office and the School Office.