SANTA ROSA, Calif., July 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- The National Scrip Center and the Diocese of Santa Rosa have announced that effective July 1st the two organizations have ended their 14-year relationship, and The National Scrip Center will continue to operate as an independent, not-for-profit, California charitable trust corporation.
Established by the diocese in 1988 to sustain diocesan schools, NSC has become the largest nonprofit scrip organization in the country. NSC purchases gift certificates, or "scrip," from some 250 national merchants at discount, and resells at discount to nonprofit, charitable and educational organizations. The nonprofits sell the scrip at face value to their members and the difference constitutes funds raised for the organization. Currently, NSC serves some 8,000 participating groups.
The diocese incorporated The National Scrip Center in 1994 to establish its operation as separate and apart from diocesan administrative offices. The diocesan bishop has since been a member and chairman of the NSC Corporate Board of Directors, with the right to appoint other directors. The agreement now announced is a second and final step in the separation of NSC from the diocese. Bishop Walsh and the Reverend Gordon Kalil, current diocesan representatives on the NSC Board, have resigned their offices and the Bishop will no longer make appointments to the Board.
Bishop Daniel Walsh wished NSC well in its future work. "The relationship with the Scrip Center has worked well in the past, but these are different times. The Center has grown far beyond its original capacity and scope of service, and it is now appropriate that it sets its own course. I am confident that the Scrip Center will continue its mission of providing valuable support to the organizations it serves."
Edward H. Phillips, President and CEO of The National Scrip Center, announced complete satisfaction with the arrangement on behalf of the remaining members of the NSC Board of Directors and himself. The Board of Directors are grateful to Bishop Walsh, according to Mr. Phillips, for splendid cooperation and the close and understanding attention he has given to the NSC as a Director and Board Chairman since his arrival in Santa Rosa a little over a year ago.
"Considering the extraordinary burden he encountered in the face of a diocesan financial crisis, and his insightful attention to the details of managing and then separating the two organizations, he has very clearly served beyond the call of duty," said Phillips.