Couponing for Charity

A single mother feeds thousands—and it costs her next to nothing.

- Claire Nowak

FEEDING 5,000 PEOPLE every month is a tall order. For Lauren Puryear—single mother, full-time mental health therapist, and founder of the nonprofit For the Love of Others—the secret ingredient is coupons. Lots and lots of coupons.

The meals themselves are often quite impressive. Spaghetti and meatballs, rotisserie chickens with vegetables, meaty sandwiches—29-year-old Puryear prides herself on preparing and serving hearty dishes to the poor and homeless. She feeds them several weekends a month, in a number of cities: beans and hot dogs in Atlanta one week; chili and corn bread in Richmond, Virginia, the next.

Still, she manages to do it all for next to nothing because the menu depends entirely on that week’s bargains. “The best way to get the lowest out-of-pocket cost is to match the coupon when the item is on sale,” she explains. Her clipping talents save between $250 and $1,000 per grocery trip. Considering that she’s on track to serve her 60,000th meal by the time she turns 30 in September, that savings is huge.