Charity Begins At Home - Then Goes To The Supermarket - A Good Idea From The Oprah Show

I saw an old episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, (I think it was from last year), where she had on a woman who came up with a great idea to help her community.

This woman was an avid coupon clipper and was always looking out for special bargains when supermarkets offered double and triple coupon days. Her routine got her to thinking that this could possibly be an opportunity to help her community.

Taking her knowledge of "couponing" and the opportunities to maximize their value with those special sales and events at her local grocery stores, she approached her church group with her idea.

Since there were limits per shopper or family on buyng special sale items, using coupons with mutiplied values, she organized her group to collect coupons for items that they could donate to their local food banks and shelters. Armed with coupons they would descend on those special double and triple coupon days and clean out the shelves of items that would end up costing pennies or even free!

Back at their lair...the church basement, they would sort out their booty and deliver it to local residents, shelters and food banks.

These people did not live in a high-income area and I'm sure these families were accustomed to pinching pennies to manage their own family finances, but they came together to help those less fortunate in their community with an ingenious idea. All this cost them was a few of those pinched pennies, some effort and the planning and coordination of a smart lady with a good heart.

This is an excellent and creative idea that can be easily accomplished in any area where supermarkets offer these types of sales and promotions to encourage shoppers to visit their stores.

If you are a member of a church group, cynagogue, temple, mosque or some other religious or community group, an organization such as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, you too can organize your own "couponing drive" to help those in your community that may not be as fortunate as you.