Are you someone who typically throws your receipts away after buying your groceries? Well it turns out if you shop at Hector’s Your Independent Grocer you could be putting them to better use.
The BC SPCA Sea to Sky branch takes part in a program with the supermarket chain to turn receipts into store credit for the non-profit to use.
It is the prime example of that saying where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
How does it work?
Branch manager Krista Larson gave a rundown of the program to The Squamish Chief to let locals know how they can participate.
“How it works is people can bring in their Independent receipts which we collect, and then we add them up to as close as we can to $5,000 and then that bundle gets us a gift card for $20,” Larson said.
Dockets of any value can be brought in so long as they are from the current year.
“It's amazing, they're so handy for us,” she said.
“When we had rabbits, we were going through greens like crazy. We've also had parrots and we needed fruits and vegetables and we would have been stuck without the vouchers.
“But it also goes towards things like laundry soap and dish detergent, the vouchers go really far for us.”
The Squamish BC SPCA along with 34 other animal shelters help to “care for abused and homeless animals until they are adopted into new homes,” according to their website.
Receipt donations
Larson said the Squamish branch will stop taking receipt donations after the first week of December as they need time to go through all the figures with a 2024 time stamp.
“It's a fair amount of work for someone to sit down and count all the receipts but people can definitely start bringing them in again in January for the 2025 year,” she said.
The program has been running for at least six years—longer than Larson has been working at the local non-profit—and has been getting more popular each year.
“I think every year, as word gets out, it's becoming bigger and bigger and bigger for us,” she said.
“It's a great way for people to support us if they don't have the ability in some other way.”
Anyone who would like to donate their Independent Grocer receipts can stop by at the BCSPCA Sea to Sky branch at 1005 Industrial Way.
The branch is open Tuesday to Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m.
