The bookstore has a sale going on that will contribute money towards students who receive scholarships. Five percent of the net sales from the clothing sale will be donated to a fund that will produce five gift cards for scholarship recipients in the fall semester.

“We are here for the students,” said Scott Heiman, bookstore manager. “If it wouldn’t be for the students, we wouldn’t need a bookstore.”

The sale officially started Feb. 28. Clothing will be 20 percent off during the sale. The fund is a project put together by Heiman as well as Tricia L. Weisheipl and Heidi Adams of the bookstore.

“We’ve done sales like this before, but we’ve never linked this scholarship piece to it,” Heimann said. “It’s like an extra bonus for everybody.”

The bookstore is teaming up with the Madison College Foundation for this scholarship. The top five students who receive scholarships from the college will receive $100 gift cards from the bookstore along with the scholarship. The bookstore is working to provide for the students, according to Adams.

“I think sometimes we get portrayed as the ‘big bad guy’,” Adams said. “But, we really do a lot to help the students along.”

Heiman and Adams have set a goal of $500 per semester. However, they are willing to see how it goes. It is a trial period, according to them. They are unsure about how it will go because it is dependent on the sales during the sale, which ends March 18, the final weekday of spring break.

“We figure that staff that might not have the ability to stop when the students are here, they will have the opportunity to stop by,” Adams said.

The bookstore understands the financial responsibilities of college students and wants to continue their help to students and to the fund itself. They have thought of other product sales to continue scholarship efforts for both this semester and in years to come. The bookstore doesn’t know how much of the net sales they would donate at that time, but it is still something they want to continue.

“If doing this generates a lot of buzz and a lot of sales, we know it’s a good thing,” Heimann said. “Not only are we making a little money to support the college, we’re supporting scholarships and people are getting clothing at a discount. So we are looking to do it in the future.”

Also, gift cards received with the scholarship will not be exclusive to Truax. They will be available elsewhere throughout the college as well.

The gift cards can also be used at Downtown and West as well as the Fort Atkinson, Reedsburg and Portage locations.

For a student to receive a scholarship, they need to meet requirements set up by the Madison College Foundation. First, the student must be enrolled in at least six credits. Also, selection is based on financial need, grade-point average, community and leadership activities, and responses on the application.