MOOSEHEART, IL - Maybe kids don't go to candy stores any more with a bundle of change or with a small sum provided by the mother or father to stare wide-eyed at all the sugar-covered goodies they can buy.

But Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler remembers the experience, and so when it was put to him that redeeming 193,100 points through Campbell's Labels for Education program was perhaps akin to that candy score experience, Urwiler was in full agreement.

"It really is like being a kid in the candy store," Urwiler said. "Back in the day, you'd have a buck from your mom and your eyes would be wide open. It was awfully nice looking through the catalog knowing how many points we had and that we could get items that we wished for and desired."

And 193,100 points earns a lot of products. Mooseheart received 36 items in return for its 193,100 points. These were used to add a trumpet, a pair of flutes, basketballs, and other school supplies. A number of Mooseheart students had a field day opening the packages.

"It's especially nice when it's not coming out of the budget and we are able to get these things," Urwiler said. "We tried to spread the wealth and get something for all the departments, including PE, the band and our school computers with some software that we got."

Members of the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose around the U.S. and Canada have been clipping the UPC labels off various food items and sending them to Mooseheart for redemption. This small act, repeated many times over the course of time, allowed the recent redemptive bonanza.

Urwiler said Mooseheart had also purposely saved labels for a time in order to get a larger assortment of items, but the number of items from which the school was able to select overwhelmed him.

Moose Charities facilitates the program. Among other school-support programs sponsored by Moose Charities are programs offered by General Mills, Nestle Pure Life, Target, Coca-Cola, Food Lion and Tyson Foods.

A full list of the school support programs sponsored by Moose Charities, along with links to the rules for each of these programs, can be found at www.moosecharities.org/SchoolPrograms.asp.

"I want to thank all the Lodges and Chapters all over the country that took the time to collect those and bother to send them to us need to know what their efforts have provided," Pamela Amundsen, Associate Director, Development of Moose Charities said.

Sharyn Harvey in the Mooseheart Health Services Department gets credit for taking the labels, counting them and sending them to Campbell's for redemption. A number of food items are eligible for redemption in the program, including Campbell's soups and items by Franco-American, Pepperidge Farm, Swanson, Spaghettios and V8 juice products. By clipping the UPC label portion of the product label, points are earned. Moose Lodges and Chapters clip these labels and mail them to Moose Charities, which redeems them.

"It's the Moose members who make this work," Amundsen said. "All we do is promote these programs and facilitate them."

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia , IL , between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road .
  
Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,800 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S. , Canada , Great Britain and Bermuda . Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.
  
Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.
  
Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.
  
Mooseheart is currently home to roughly 230 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.
  
In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville , FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.
  
Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.mooseintl.org , www.mooseheart.org , www.moosehaven.org, www.moosecharities.org, or call 630-966-2229.