Safeway pulls out of eScrip program

Safeway is pulling out of the popular eScrip fundraising program, which could blast big holes in the budgets of local school booster groups and other nonprofit organizations.

For Cali Calmécac Language Academy, a dual-immersion charter school in Windsor that serves kindergarten through eighth-grade students, the loss of Safeway eScrip contributions probably will wipe out $19,000 to $24,000 a year in funding, said principal Jeanne Acuña. That’s about 40 percent of the school’s total eScrip income, which has funded after-school and music programs and science supplies, among other things.

Thousands of grocers and retailers across the United States take part in eScrip, but Safeway is the largest participant.

“After careful review, we concluded the model wasn’t the best fit for our company going forward,” Safeway spokesman Keith Turner said in a statement. He declined to elaborate, but said nonprofit groups can pursue grants through the Safeway Foundation.

“We believe that local decisions should be considered at the local level. This change is designed to give our divisions the freedom to make the best choices for our customers and the communities we serve,” he said.

The company, acknowledging the impact, will for one year contribute to school groups 80 percent of their last year’s eScrip income, doling out it out in quarterly payments.

“We want to make sure schools are not adversely affected by this change,” Turner said.

Since its launch in 1999, the program has raised more than $420 million for schools and nonprofits across the United States, according to eScrip. Safeway has contributed more than $300 million to the program since its inception, the grocer announced in February.

Under the program, shoppers register with eScrip and designate up to three schools or nonprofits to receive a percentage of the money they spend at retailers. The San Mateo company takes a 15 percent cut of the money that is routed from retailers and delivers the rest to the registered groups.

Thousands of organizations in Sonoma County - from Boy Scout troops to homeless service agencies - are signed up for eScrip.

“We’re looking at a 40 percent hit” in total income, said Gerry Blue, who coordinates the program for the Analy Band Wagon, a parent group that supports instrumental music programs at Analy High School in Sebastopol.

He said the group brings in $11,000 a year in eScrip income, 80 percent of it via Safeway contributions. The group funds a band director’s assistant, instrument repairs and other program needs, Blue said.

Laura Rogers, who coordinates the eScrip programs at Rincon Valley Middle School and Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, said Safeway contributions made up about 80 percent of the middle school’s eScrip income of about $1,000 a month.

“It’s pretty significant,” she said.

Discussions have yet to start about how to fill the fundraising hole, she said. The decision was only announced July 31.

“I have faith in the parent community at both schools, and I’m sure we will rise to the challenge. We have a year to figure it out,” Rogers said.

At Cali Calmécac on Thursday, after a busy first day of school, an upbeat Acuña noted that Oliver’s Market - which participates in the eScrip program - is planning to open a Windsor store, and predicted the school would recover.

“We’ll definitely feel the loss, but we’ll find ways to make it work. We’ll adapt,” she said. “We have an incredibly generous school community that pitches in and supports us.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5212 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jeremyhay.