Coupon snipping pays off for military families
By Patricia Bogumil
Staff Writer
Robyn Schowengerdt, 19, of Waterford, knows her mom, Debra, is not a big fan of clipping coupons for the family’s use.
So, Robyn knew something was up when she came across Debra sitting at their kitchen counter, busily clipping coupons out of a big bag full of newspaper inserts.
Robyn’s idle curiosity that day drew her into a massive project undertaken while she was home in Waterford for winter break from American University, where she is a sophomore majoring in International Studies.
Thanks to Robyn’s clipping prowess – displayed in 15-plus hours of work – she netted 1,606 manufacturers’ coupons totaling $2,472 in savings.
The coupons have been sent to Camp Zama Commissary in Japan for use by military families.
This was a project, Robyn said, that she started without fully realizing how enormous and involved it would be.
“But even though it could get tiresome, just seeing the amount of coupons generated after each time I sat down to clip motivated me to finish,” Robyn said.
Also, it helped that she could see the direct benefit the coupon project has on families for products that they use in their daily lives, Robyn said.
“And, after awhile, you realize how much you could save, too!”
Robyn became a member of the American Legion Auxiliary Juniors program when she was age 9 and became a full Auxiliary member at age 18.
She moved to Waterford in first grade, attending Evergreen Elementary and Fox River Middle schools; then went to Martin Luther High School in Greendale.
Robyn said she came to be a member of the American Legion Auxiliary through her mom, “because of her good memories with them when she was younger.”
Besides that connection, Robyn’s grandmother, Joan Judge of Riverdale, Ill., has for years set aside the coupon pages from the Chicago papers for use by the Auxiliary clippers.
And then there are Robyn’s family friends, Marge and Vito Colano of Waterford, who mail out about 18 packages of coupons every month to military bases in Italy, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands Germany and Spain.
Waterford’s Essman Schroeder Post 20 of the American Legion, of which Vito Colano is an active member, supports the Auxiliary’s coupon program by paying about $35 in postage each month.
In Waterford, people are welcome to drop off bags of coupon flyers at the Colanos’ back door at 414 S. First St.
Other Auxiliaries are also participating, noted Debra Schowengerdt.
In Union Grove, the Auxiliary unit for Bixby-Hansen Post 171 has long been involved, said Auxiliary President Marcy Perez.
“We’ve been doing this for at least 10 years.”
For more information about the Union Grove area coupon project, people are welcome to call the project’s chairman, Laura Lossman, at 878-1705.
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