VIENNA - The Grand Central Mall will once again award $20,000 to local schools to help them meet some of their needs during the fifth annual Earning for Learning program this fall.
Earning for Learning, which will kick off Monday, encourages local residents to shop at any Grand Central Mall retailer over a six-week period to earn "points," and ultimately the chance to win cash prizes, for the school of their choice, said Katrina Stephens, mall marketing director.
Each dollar spent between Aug. 17 and Sept. 27 can be turned into points. Shoppers redeem their receipts for points at guest services in the center of the mall and designate their points to the school of their choice.
Each school will be ranked on a point-per-student ratio. At the end of the contest, the top four schools will be awarded cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. The winning schools will be notified by Oct. 2.
Last year, over 320,000 points were totaled for the 43 area schools that participated.
Belpre Christian Academy, last year's grand prize winner, was awarded $10,000.
Mall officials have added an extra incentive to this year's program. Schools and shoppers will now have a weekly chance to earn some cash. Mall officials will draw one shopper's name from the points that have been turned in each week and that shopper will receive a $50 mall gift card, and the school to which they allocated their points will receive a $100 gift card.
