I can't afford a trip.

We fully understand that for some it may be a hardship to send your student on these trips.

• >> Download Application here

• Trip assistance should be requested only if a legitimate financial need exists.

• If you have more than one student participating in an event, each student must have a separate application.
• We fully support the idea of a student doing their part to help with the financial responsibility of a trip. However, if your family is in the financial position to pay in full for a trip, we ask that you pay for the trip and find avenues for him/her to work to contribute. This will allow us to help more families that are not in a financial place to pay 100% of a trip.
• You must submit a separate application for each trip for which you are requesting financial help.
• Applications for trip assistance are due at least three months before the event/trip. Please turn in applications to Bret or Jane in the HSM office, or drop in the mail slot in Jane’s door.
• There will be a maximum amount any one student can receive over the course of the youth ministry year. This amount will be determined by the availability of funds.
• If a student is awarded a scholarship, he/she will be expected to volunteer at church as a way to “work off” the scholarship at a value rate of $8 per hour. This work needs to be arranged & approved through the youth ministry staff.
• Other options for fundraising that you may not be aware of include; Kroger Gift Card, Commissary BBQ certificates.  For you to be considered for trip assistance you will be required to participate in at least one of these options. Credit earned from either of these fundraisers will to towards the amount of trip assitance that was granted.

Estimated cost of youth trips:

• Spring Break Ski trip-$640
• Jr. High Great Escape, Gunnison, CO-$535 early bird; $575 late rate
• Sr. High Panama City beach trip- $350 early bird; $390 late rate
• Six Flags St. Louis-$85 early bird; $100 late rate
• Fall weekend camp, Victory Ranch, Bolivar, TN-Price TBD

Fundraising Tools

1. Kroger Gift Cards

   If you have friends/family members that live in the mid-south area (West TN, AK, MS) they may purchase cards from us and their purchases will also be put towards a designated student.The ONLY way to earn trip credit through this program is to purchase gift cards from the Hope Student Ministries office. Kroger Gift cards purchased any where else do not qualify for HSM.

   • Purchase a Kroger gift card from Jane Hillis in the Hope Student Ministries office.
   • Sell your card for $5 (they are pre-loaded in the amount of $5).
   • The card holder then takes the gift card to any local Kroger store and loads up to $500 on the card.
   • Each time the cardholder loads the card, you will earn 5% back of the amount loaded (the money does not have to be spent to earn the credit, only loaded), ($500 loaded=$25 in your students trip account).
   • We will be sent a statement every 4 weeks at which time we will apply each students earned credit to their trip acct.
   • Kroger Fundraising Program Frequently Asked Questions
     • How convenient is it to recharge the card? Do the supporters need to go to Customer Service to recharge before they start their grocery shopping? We have made it very convenient for the organizations to recharge their card. Gift cards may be recharged up to $100 at ANY REGISTER. To recharge for more than $100, gift cards will have to be recharged at the Customer Service desk prior to doing their grocery shopping. IMPORTANT NOTE:If you wish to use the gift card to pay for your groceries, the gift card must be recharged and paid for prior to being used as payment for the groceries. In other words, you must tell the cashier that he wishes to recharge the gift card before the groceries are rung. IF the gift card is recharged within the grocery order, it cannot be used to pay for them. The gift card recharge must be done as a SEPARATE TRANSACTION first.
     • What if a I loses or throws away their card?  Just like with the gift cards for sale at your store, we cannot be responsible for the card value if someone loses or throws away their card. If someone throws away their card they will need to purchase another card from their organization (HSM) in order to have it linked to that organization. Gift cards for fund-raising cannot be purchased at stores.
     • What can be purchased with gift cards? You can purchase anything, including fuel and prescriptions, in a Kroger store with the exception of services. Services include: money orders, Western Union, lottery tickets, hunting/fishing license, Ticket Master. You cannotbuy any kind of gift cards with a gift card.
     • What if my gift card won’t scan? Ask the cashier to manually enter the gift card number until it gets to a zero balance. Do not recharge a card you are having problems with. When the card is at a zero balance, throw the card away and get a new card from the organization. Things that demagnetize gift card: magnetic latch on purse or wallet, eel skin wallet or purse, money clip, cell phone, and anything with a speaker. At times, the system may go down in the stores; it is usually back up in a few minutes.
     • Other Information:
     1. There is a five minute delay from the time you recharge a gift card at the customer service desk or a check lane and use it in another check lane, pharmacy or fuel station. However, this does not apply to recharging and redeeming in the same check lane. Example: If you recharge your gift card at the customer service desk and go straight to a check lane, pharmacy or fuel station, they will get a reading of “invalid expiration”. You will have to wait at least five minutes to redeem the gift card. If you are in the check lane and recharge your gift card, you can use it after your groceries are rung up. The five minute rule does not apply to the same check lane. Simple Recharging:• You can recharge your card for ANY amount up to $500.
     2. Pay for the recharged card with cash, check, debit card or major credit card. Once a card is depleted, be sure to continue to recharge it. Depleted cards ($0 balance) are deleted from the system after 90 days. At that point, the card cannot be re-charged for the organization. Always keep at least a dollar on your card. Or a new card will need to be purchased from the organization (HSM). Be sure to read the back of the gift card when purchased.

2. The Germantown Commissary

   The student can sell gift certificates for a 8 Pack of BBQ from The Germantown Commissary. For each certificate sold, the student will receive $10.

   • Parents will need to come into the youth office and see Jane Hillis to pick up BBQ certificates.
   • There is no upfront charge or deposit. We just ask that you sign an agreement to return the money from sold certificates and/or any unsold certificates within one month from the day you check them out. Since the certificates are already paid for they need to be treated like cash.
   • You will be allowed to check out 5 certificates at a time. When the money is turned in, the students trip account will be credited according to how many are sold (sell 5 for a credit of $50).
   • Some of the important details you might want to know
   1. 8 Pack of BBQ includes: 8 buns1 1/2 lbs. of BBQ with sauce, 1 qt. of baked beans, 1 qt. of cole slaw, 1 qt. of banana pudding
   2. Good for take-out only
   3. Current certificates expire - 12/31/2011
   4. Cost $35 - cash and checks only (made out to Hope Presbyterian Church) - $10.00 will go towards the student’s account.