By Will Dewitt
Reporter

Student government is collecting box tops to benefit J.H. Hines Elementary School for the second year, this time to raise money for the school’s library.

The program was started last year by former student body external vice president Emily Saultz to help ensure that students of the elementary school would have student uniforms.

“My cabinet and I committed ourselves to strengthening the relationship between the student body and the community,” Saultz, an Amarillo senior, said. “We knew of the Greater Waco Education Alliance and their work, so we decided to see what we could do to help.”

This year current student body external vice president Cristina Galvan is running the program.

“I felt it was important for us to continue the effort,” said Galvan, a Baytown junior.

This year the box tops will go toward purchasing books for the library and the classroom to leave a lasting impact of the written word on students.

J.H. Hines Elementary School is also member of the Greater Waco Education Alliance’s Best Practices Reading Program, a tutoring program that reaches out to students in the Waco area.

Started in 1996, the Box Tops for Education program has been giving parents and students an opportunity to collect money for their schools by cutting out coupons on the boxes of cereals and snacks.

Since then the program has grown to encompass a wide variety of products from Batman Fruit Flavored Shapes to Cottenelle Fresh Flushable Moist Wipes to Hefty trash bags.

For each Box Top collected Box Tops for Education gives 10 cents back to the school.

To date, the organization has given more than $300 million. Schools throughout the country have already collected $50 million in box top donations this year alone.

“I would like for more students to participate, and I hope that Baylor students continue to learn more about the difference they can make in a child’s life by volunteering their time with education here in Waco,” Saultz said.

Box Tops are being collected at the student government office in the SUB as well as at various collection points in all the on-campus residence halls.

Student government collects box tops year-round but has set a deadline for Feb. 20 to count toward this year’s donations.

For a full list of products with box tops,visit www.btfe.com.