TRIP

TRIP is a fundraising program in which you can purchase gift cards (online or via a paper order form) through Holland Christian Schools to shop at major food and retail stores. The stores sell us the gift cards at a discount. The school then sells the cards at face value to participants and credits their tuition account with the difference. The percentage of credit earned varies from store to store.

Anyone in the community can participate, including HC families, future HC families, grandparents, friends, etc., and designate their TRIP earnings to the account of a presently enrolled family, a future family, or to Holland Christian’s Tuition Grant Fund.

There is no cost to participate, but Holland Christian retains a very minor percentage of the credits to cover the operational expenses of the TRIP program.

The cards supplied by TRIP are the stores’ actual gift cards and are the same as cash; you can buy anything in the store that you would normally buy with cash, check, or credit card. Some stores, such as Kohls, will even these gift cards to make payments on charge accounts. A list of all the stores participating in the TRIP program are listed in another toggle below.

If you move to one of the other Lakeshore Area Christian Schools (Zeeland Christian, Grand Haven Christian, South Olive Christian), Holland Christian will transfer all TRIP credits to that school’s TRIP program.

TRIP uses volunteers to run this program. If you can volunteer a few hours a month to the program, we would appreciate your time!

Scroll down to learn how to participate in TRIP, as well as to find the necessary TRIP forms and participating store lists.

See the top of this TRIP webpage for the summer ’23 TRIP schedule, as the summers differ from the school year TRIP schedules.

Instant TRIP and TRIP pick-up/drop off is on Wednesday mornings, from 7:30-9:00 am, at the Rose Park and High School entrances, with seated smiling helpers there to greet you.

• You can drop off any TRIP orders at the offices in the Middle School, at Pine Ridge, and at South Side  until 9:00 am, though on Wednesdays only. You must drop off and pick up your order at the school designated on your ShopWithScrip account.
• Orders that are not picked up will be held at the HCS administration office for south side people, and at Rose Park’s office for those of you who live on Holland’s north side.

Periodically businesses will offer temporary additional percentages in the rebates; you will be updated on these details through the weekly TRIP Clip newsletter which we email to you regularly when you are registered with Holland Christian TRIP, or through our Holland Christian TRIP Facebook page, linked here.

1. The TRIP program is run weekly, except on scheduled school holidays. TRIP runs every other week during the summer.
2. Did you know that family or friends may help you with your tuition reduction through TRIP? They can order certificates on your order form with your tuition number, or may participate in the program by creating their own account on RaiseRight.com and directing their credit to your tuition account. Or anyone can choose to add to the tuition account of any participating family or church, or the HCS Tuition Grant Fund. Parents and grandparents looking to the future and planning for the Christian education of their children at Holland Christian Schools can also participate. These families are assigned a tuition number and the credits earned will be held by Holland Christian Schools and then credited toward their tuition when their child is enrolled in kindergarten. You may also move your TRIP credit to another Lakeshore Area Christian School if you move out of the Holland Christian area.
3. All certificate orders must be accompanied by checks made payable to HCS TRIP. These checks are not tax deductible because participants receive dollar for dollar value. Also anyone writing a non-sufficient funds check will incur a fee of $20.00 to be paid to TRIP. Please note that TRIP checks are cashed immediately so the order for the certificates can be placed the same day.
4. The percentage earned on each participating family’s account will be held by the TRIP program and credited to your tuition account. Each week the order envelope you receive will list the dollar amount you earned that week.
5. Order pick up process:
   • Parent pick up: Filled orders are available from the TRIP tables on Wednesdays. A friend or relative may also pick up your certificates provided they sign a form available at the time of pick up.
   • Student take home: If you or your students cannot get to their school’s office before 9 am on Wednesdays, then all orders from HCS schools on Holland’s south side are available for pick up at the HCS administration office after 9 am on Wednesdays. Rose Park orders can be picked up at the Rose Park office after 9 am on Wednesdays as well.
6. Neither Holland Christian, nor the TRIP committee, is responsible for failure of participating businesses to fulfill contractual obligations or for changing their policy without notice. It is the responsibility of TRIP participants to clarify with individual merchants such matters as individual store decisions on giving change, use of certificates, etc. prior to making a purchase at the store.
7. The certificates are the same as cash. Neither Holland Christian Schools nor TRIP accept responsibility for lost, stolen, damaged, or misplaced certificates.

If you’re having trouble signing up for TRIP with RaiseRight.com, feel free to contact us at trip@hollandchristian.org. In our pre-COVID lives, we used to also hold a class each fall on how to get the most out of TRIP to help cut down on tuition costs–if we are able to do that again, please watch your children’s school memos for the date!