Question: I’ve been throwing away the Box Tops for Education coupons because I don’t know anyone collecting them. It seems such a waste. Do you know of any schools or groups that are collecting them?

Answer: Yes. Dozens of Hawaii schools are listed as participants in the fundraising program, which pays 10 cents for each valid box top submitted. The valuable labels are printed on hundreds of specially marked grocery products; although they’re called “box tops,” they can also be found on canned goods, plastic-bagged foods and other nonboxed items.

You can find a beneficiary at 808ne.ws/1QgAVcj. Search by ZIP code to locate the school nearest you, or type in the name of a school you like and see if it pops up.

You mentioned in a second email that you live in Wahiawa; our search turned up about a dozen participating schools in that area, including public and private institutions, running the gamut from preschool to high school. (We emailed you the list, which is too long to print here.)

Once you have chosen which school or schools to support, contact them directly to find out where their collection boxes are located on campus. Kaimuki Middle School, for example, collects donations in the library and the school office, according to its website. Aikahi Elementary School’s Student Council manages its operation, and raised nearly $1,900 one recent year, according to that school’s website.

Schools collect box tops throughout the year. Only unexpired “clips” are accepted for redemption in the fundraiser, which was founded by General Mills.

Earnings are dispersed twice a year, in December and April. Schools use the cash for all sorts of things, including library books, art supplies and field trips.

Q: My wife and I will be returning to Honolulu in December after some years caregiving to family in North Carolina. We claim residency in Hawaii and maintain a home in Honolulu and pay property tax. When my wife’s Hawaii driver’s license expired some years ago, she applied for and received a North Carolina license. That license will expire in December. Should my wife update her North Carolina license before she returns to Hawaii or wait until after she returns to obtain a Hawaii license? I’m not sure if obtaining a North Carolina license will make matters easier when she returns and eventually applies for a Hawaii driver’s license. What do you think?

A: The status of your wife’s driver’s license is the most pertinent fact here. It’s important that she maintain a valid one throughout the move. If there’s a chance her North Carolina license will expire before she can apply in person in Hawaii for an out-of-state license transfer, she should renew it on the mainland just to be safe.

Since your wife last held a Hawaii license years ago, she won’t be able to reactivate her old one. The good news is that as long as she applies with a valid U.S. driver’s license (in this case from North Carolina), the road test will be waived; she will have to pass the written exam and vision test. If she shows up with an expired license, she will have to pass the road test as well.

Sheri Kajiwara, director of the city Department of Customer Services, explains that there is a grace period for certain expired driver’s licenses, but it applies only to active-duty military personnel who were deployed overseas at the time the license expired; their licenses remain valid for 90 days after returning to the U.S.

A valid out-of-state driver’s license remains legal in Hawaii until its expiration date, Kajiwara said.

For detailed information about how your wife should proceed once she is in Hawaii and ready to apply, go online to honolulu.gov/faqs.html and click on “How do I transfer my valid out-of-state license?”

Mahalo

A big mahalo to Gary and Heidi for spending more than an hour chasing a stray black Chihuahua at the Beretania-Punchbowl intersection recently during the morning rush hour. They finally caught the stray and then waited for the Hawaiian Humane Society to pick up the dog.

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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.