As of May 1, 2009 Kroger is changing their Kroger Community Rewards program.  You will no longer need to use gift cards in order to get credit for your student's account.  By simply using your Kroger Plus Card at checkout, you will accumulate credits.  There are a few changes, however. 

1.  The following is not covered alcohol, tobacco, government-assisted pharmacy expenses, postage stamps, Kroger gift cards and Green Dot Prepaid Cards, gift certificates, lottery and promotional tickets, fuel, fuel center purchases, office services and Sales Tax.  Eligible purchases shall consist of those retail purchases made at any Columbus Division Kroger Food Store.  Eligible pharmacy purchases include out-of-pocket co-pays for non-government-assisted pharmacy programs.  You must present your Plus Card or use your phone number at time of purchase.  You can not go to the service desk later to get credit.  Basically, if you earn fuel points for something, you will earn the Community Reward points.

2. The statement and checks come out quarterly.  So you will not see monthly credits, it will be quarterly.  Each family (plus card number) can only earn $300 per quarter (that is purchases of $6,000).  Also, the max that Kroger will pay out for each quarter is $1,250,000 for participating organizations in Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan.  You will earn up to 5% on your purchases (half in your student's account), unless it goes over the maxi um amount.  Then, the percentage will be lower.

3.  You must register your Kroger Plus card through Kroger's web site.  See instructions below.

4.  If you want to have neighbors, friends or relatives sign up to have their purchases go towards your student's account, please have them Edit their Contact Information on their account to include your child's name after their last name (in parenthesis).  Otherwise, I will not know who to give credit to.  Please register as soon as possible.  It takes about 7-10 days to process.  Starting on May 1st, if you have registered in time, your receipts will indicate that you have chosen Pickerington North Music Boosters-Band to receive the Community Rewards.  If you do not see that, then you are not earning reward points.  If you use your phone number and cannot find your plus card, there is a phone number on the instructions to call and get your plus card number for registration purposes.

5.  You can load your gift cards through April 30th and still receive credit.  Remember you get credit when you load your card not when you spend it.  So you can in effect double your rewards by loading before April 30th and spending it after May 1st. 

INSTRUCTIONS TO REGISTER YOUR KROGER PLUS CARD IN THE COMMU NITY REWARDS PROGRAM

• Register online at www.krogercommunityrewards.com
• Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
• If a member does not yet have a Kroger Plus card, please let them know that they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
• Click on Sign In/Register
• Most participants are new online customers, so they must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
• Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
• You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
• Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter NPO number (80656) or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
• REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
• Do you use your phone number at the register? =2 0Call 877-576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
• Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.
• If you are interested in the alternate SCANBAR method of member registration, please call 800-837-4483 and a SCANBAR letter will be mailed to you.