The struggling economy has brought forth a new wave of savvy shoppers who have discovered the

Michelle Emahiser-Allen (left) and Jen Myers with school supplies collected for Genoa-area students at the recent Coupon for Christ event held in Genoa.

 secrets to saving hundreds on their monthly grocery bill all while giving to the community.

Jen Myers, of Genoa has turned this couponing hobby into a passion of helping others. She started couponing not long ago, when a woman held a coupon class for the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group to which she belonged.

To her excitement, Myers said she saved 70 percent her first time using coupons. “Before, I never even touched a coupon,” she said. “Thirty-five cents is not worth my time. I have kids – forget it,” she said.

“It looks like a lot of work but it’s not,” she added. “It takes $3 a week and 45 minutes of my time cutting coupons.”

Myers was able to triple the amount of items in her pantry, and went from store brand to name brand. She was getting items free or even sometimes being paid by stores like Rite Aid to take some of their stock.

She would only keep the items she knew her family of four would use, and she would then take the rest into the Genoa food pantry. “If everyone did this, we could give so much,” Myers said.

Eventually, people she didn’t even know began to contact her, asking her to teach a class for them. So she started a Facebook page and named her new non-profit business Coupons for Christ.

Before long, she needed a facility big enough to hold the large groups she was teaching. Her friend and co-owner of Latte’da in Genoa, Jennifer Delventhal came to mind.

Myers started holding her classes at Latte’da. The business was large enough to hold a sufficient number of couponers and the classes would draw customers into the coffee shop, Myers said.

“I felt like God was calling me to do this,” she said. “It has been snowballing ever since. Every class I did would take me an hour to an hour and a half to teach and I would leave with a trunk load of donations to take to the food pantry.”

Recently Myers collaborated with Michelle Emahiser-Allen, of Keepingitlocalnwo.com, along with Latte’da and Brian Pearson, of Pearson and Pearson in Genoa to hold an “It Takes a Community to Raise a Child School Supply Drive.”

The women decided to take action after hearing the story of a local principal who gathered school supplies for a man who lived in his car and was registering his son for school.

Instead of requesting food pantry donations at the coupon class, they asked for donations of school supplies for Genoa-area families who may be having trouble making ends meet. The women recognized the opportunity to not only gather school supplies for students of families who couldn’t afford them, but they could also discuss using coupons to get free grocery items which could be donated to the food bank, further helping area families.

“It took a collaboration of great community members and businesses to pull off this successful event,” Emahiser-Allen said. Latte’da graciously opened its doors to provide a facility and drop off location. Pearson and Pearson in offered up the company’s graphic design department to create flyers at no cost.

On Saturday, Aug. 21, there was a full house at Latte’da, and altogether about 30 to 35 students would get new backpacks and supplies to start the school year.

Brenda Murphy, elementary principal of Genoa Area Schools, said, “We appreciate the generosity of all people and businesses who contributed to this event. In the past, our teachers have been the ones who pulled money from their own pockets to provide things such as supplies and money for field trips.

“We never want to see any kid go without because they couldn’t afford it,” Murphy said. “We are seeing a greater need amongst our students because of the economy, and it is wonderful to see everyone pull together to help out.”

In addition to helping with the school supply drive, Molly and Brian Pearson decided to take the next step and make a monetary donation to the Genoa Area Schools Field Trip Fund to help Mrs. Murphy and the teachers at Genoa’s elementary schools be assured that every child will have the same opportunity to learn.

Visit Latte’da, 624 Main St., Genoa to find out about the next scheduled Coupons for Christ class or visit Keepingitlocalnwo.com for a calendar of events.

Michelle Emahiser-Allen (left) and Jen Myers with school supplies collected for Genoa-area students at the recent Coupon for Christ event held in Genoa.

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