A senior project for a Carson City high school student that involved "extreme couponing" for two months netted more than $1,100 worth of goods that he donated to area veterans.
Dallas Burnett, a Carson High School senior, managed to find, clip, cut, and ultimately save $818.56 in grocery and household items that he donated to the Veterans Guest House in Reno.
For his senior project, Dallas, 18, wanted to learn about military personnel returning to civilian life. Dallas has already signed up to join the Air Force after graduation and may leave as early as July 18 for basic training.
Dallas learned about PTSD, the ability to find affordable housing, lack of jobs, etc. In doing these things, Dallas wanted to see how far he could stretch a dollar given limited resources.
He had begun thinking about his senior project when he was a sophomore. And then this year he decided to break away from the pack of Carson High seniors and do something extreme. He took to collecting coupons with the idea to use the items he bought using seed money given to him from his grandparents, his parents and his own savings. The items would then be given to the Reno veteran organization.
"Veterans have been a big part of my life," Dallas explained, adding that he has an uncle who was in Desert Storm and a grandfather in the Vietnam War. "I've grown up listening to their stories and finding out what problems veterans have and what (organizations) are available to them. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to give back and help veterans."
Key to collecting coupons is to be organized. He noted that to generate the kind of cost savings, it took time, patience and persistence.
"You really have to pay attention to details like expiration dates and which stores are offering what items," he said.
The reality is that you can find good deals, but can you find good deals on the items that you need most. This is when Dallas decided to use the list provided on the Veterans Guest House webpage for guidance. The organization needed items such as laundry soap, juices, paper, flashlights and cleaners.
Dallas found a mentor that taught classes at the CVS in Reno, Cassie Angus, and learned what he would need to do and a few of the secrets. He surfed the web and printed coupons and looked through several Sunday newspapers. He learned which days the new ads were released at Walgreens, CVS, Target and local grocery stores and applied the coupons to what he bought, getting the best bargain for his bucks.
From Feb. 7 to March 30, Dallas was able to purchase $1,126.74 worth if items for $308.18 for a total savings of 71 percent.
His items include fabric softeners, laundry soaps, juice boxes, cake mixes, pastas, pads of paper, liquid soaps, body washes, shampoos, and coffee. There's a total of 365 different items.
On Tuesday Dallas, his father Joe and his grandfather Dick, a Vietnam Veteran, delivered the items to the Veterans Guest House in Reno.
Dallas says he's learned a lot from the experience, the value of a dollar for one, and the importance of giving back. He says he's also learned that someday he may need a helping hand no matter what the reason and that it is good to know that there are organizations and donors who assist and take care of service men and women.
Kathi McGathey, house manager for Veterans Guest House, was grateful for the donation.
"He's an incredible young man with a fabulous idea," she said. "We could not do it without people like Dallas who bring us things. They take it upon themselves to find out what we need and show up to the door with it."