This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Every year as we get close to the first day of school, I am reminded that we always feel new as a military family. This is our second year at our school-my oldest will be in second grade. We stopped by the school to drop off the required new school year paperwork, and to see what teacher my son will have this year. There were familiar faces, but we still are new, not fully known, not fully connected to our community.

As a military family, my children do not get to grow up in one place going to school in buildings where I used to learn. They always have to adjust to being new while trying to get connected and fully live life in a new area.

In order to try our best to give in our community, to try to help out as much as we can, my son participates in certain programs at school that require us to give: fundraisers, back to school nights, fairs-we try to attend to get our kids living life in their new community even when they will not be connected for long.

That’s why I like programs like our school’s twice-yearly garage sale and the monthly events for donating General Mills® Box Tops from groceries we buy already. It is such a simple act that has a big impact!

My children get to pick cereal, or granola bars for snacks and then we can clip the Box Tops so my oldest can give them to his school. His school earns money that they can use on whatever they need!

I want to teach my children that no matter how new they are to an area, that they can contribute. It can be hard to try to plug in to a new community and school every three years, but it is possible! Part of our family’s values are to give in our areas of influence first-family, friends, our church, and our school. We can learn the needs of the community around us and help as much as we can-no matter how long we will live here.

My son’s school makes it fun to collect and bring in General Mills® Box Tops for Education™. Once a month the school holds a Box Tops donation day. The kids can bring in Box Tops and in exchange for 5, they get a freeze pop.

It is a funny coincidence that the General Mills Box Tops for Education program has products we found at Walmart that give you 5 bonus Box Tops from one box!

We can get 5 box tops from one box of Cheerios! That is enough for a freeze pop for my son-seems like a small reward, but it is a fun event for the kids. Our school does this once a month, and that is usually enough time to collect 5 or more Box Tops. We can collect a lot faster buying Bonus Box Tops products at Walmart.

Each Box Top earns your school $.10. Over 80,000 schools participate in the program, and the Box Tops program is one of America’s largest school earnings loyalty programs.

In fact, Box Tops for Education™ has contributed over $525 million to participating schools since the launch of the program in 1996.

We are happy to do this small act of giving that really does make a big difference in not only our school, but the lives of our children. They learn to recognize opportunities to give, understand the value of helping their local community and not letting the time they live in one place deter them from helping out.

They feel part of the success of the school and gain self-esteem in what can be a pretty challenging lifestyle. It really does only take small actions to make great strides. I am happy to teach them that value.

If you homeschool, you can still participate: purchase Box Tops products, clip the labels and donate them to the school in your district, or send them to a friend who attends a participating school. No sense tossing the box of a Box Tops product if it can help someone else! It is such an easy way to give and stay connected to your community.

If you want to start collecting Box Tops for your child’s school, head to Walmart. You can easily find products with Bonus Box Tops on the shelves and they are items many of us with young children at home keep as staples in our pantry anyway.

How to Donate Box Tops to Your School:

1) Buy products with the Box Top label.
2) Clip the Box Top label off of the packaging.
3) Collect the Box Top labels in an envelope or zip top baggie.
4) Give to your school.

How does your school encourage kids to donate box tops?

Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.