Commissaries offer 'Back to School' savings, opportunities for children

By Sallie CauthersAugust 7, 2013

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(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEE, Va. (Aug. 7, 2013) -- Commissaries are offering significant savings on "Back to School" products to help parents prepare their children for the classroom.

"Your commissary is the very best choice to get food products for your children's healthy breakfasts; easy-to-prepare, healthy pack lunches; after-school snacks and other school-related items," said Michelle Frost, the Defense Commissary Agency's chief of promotions and marketing. "And, we have them available at the best prices in town."

DeCA's industry partners -- vendors, suppliers and brokers -- are collaborating with commissaries in August to offer discounts beyond everyday savings. Overseas stores may have substitute events for certain promotional programs.

Customers should check with their local store manager to verify when they will be offering the following sales events:

Scholarship donations -- Commissary industry partners are donating part of their sales proceeds to the Scholarships for Military Children program include: Kimberly-Clark, Colgate-Palmolive, Kellogg's, Keebler, Chef Boyardee, Peter Pan, Manwich, Orville Redenbacher, Campbell's and Pepperidge Farm. Look for the mass displays in commissaries available until Aug. 21.

Essay contest -- Dixon Marketing is sponsoring an essay contest for school children, giving them a chance to win one of 10 Kindle Fire tablets. The essay topic is: "If I could change one thing about the world, what would it be?" Entries must be submitted to www.familymedia.com/dmi by Sept. 1. There will also be in-store, high-value coupons and a worldwide distribution of 500,000 in-store flyers offering more savings on Dixon Marketing's promotion items until Aug. 21.

Box Tops for Education -- General Mills will sponsor this worldwide event until Aug. 21. Each Box Tops for Education coupon collected is worth 10 cents. Schools earn thousands of dollars per year for computers, library books, art supplies and playground equipment by clipping Box Tops coupons. Many General Mills items will feature two box tops (20 cents) during this promotional period. For more details go to http://www.boxtops4education.com/.

Salute Top Military Families -- S & K Sales Company and their participating manufacturers are sponsoring this promotion until Sept. 25. The worldwide sale will distribute 650,000 special eight-page flyers in the commissaries. A portion of each product's purchase price will be donated to the National Military Family Association, a non-profit organization focusing on issues important to military Families. They have offered more than $2 million in scholarships annually to military spouses. They also send over 45,000 children annually to Operation Purple Summer camp, a free program for children whose parents are deployed to war locations.

Back-to-School, Smart Savings Rule: Industry partners -- Kraft Foods, General Mills, Heinz, Nabisco, Nestle, Quaker Oats, Bumble Bee, Fresh Express, Tyson Foods and Ralston Cereals -- will provide commissary shoppers worldwide 16-page booklets with coupons for fresh meat and produce, Family meal favorites and back-to-school necessities. The booklets include recipes for breakfast, lunchbox, dinner and snack ideas plus information on DeCA's Rewards Card. Check out their website at www.mymilitarysavings.com, for more details on participating products, a shopping list, a contest to win commissary gift cards and more.

"Your local commissary is offering lots of super school savings in August," Frost said. "Visit us first before going anywhere else for all your back-to-school needs."