<ent Wellness Advisors (SWAs) will enact a program to encourage students in Carleton’s residence halls to save soda pop tabs for donation to the Ronald McDonald House of Minneapolis.
For nearly 35 years, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) has been creating, finding, and supporting programs that directly improve the health and well being of children worldwide. The organization’s largest endeavor has been building and maintaining Ronald McDonald Houses near large hospitals to provide a safe, welcoming environment where families of seriously ill or injured children can stay for little or no cost. The House offers private rooms for extended stay families and top-rate schooling for siblings that will have to be out of school for a long period of time. Support for parents, home-cooked meals, and toys and organized activities for siblings are also available on a daily basis. Known as The House that Love Built, the Ronald McDonald House is an incredible resource for families that have traveled long distances to allow their children to live.
The soda pop tab program, hosted by Carleton’s SWAs in collaboration with The Ronald McDonald House of Minneapolis is located near the Fairview Children’s Hospital at the University of Minnesota. The RMHC has connected with a local recycling center to raise money by collecting pop tabs off of soda, beer, and soup cans. The tabs are used, rather than the whole can, because they are made of pure, high-quality aluminum, whereas the can is made of aluminum and other alloys, and because they are easier and more sanitary to store. For every pound of pop tabs collected, the Ronald McDonald House receives 47 cents. To date, 400 million pop tabs have been donated to Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide, generating over $4 million that has assisted in keeping the charity afloat.
In the upcoming days, cardboard boxes in the shape of houses will be placed in floor lounges for pop tab collection. Carleton will make its final donation near the end of Fall Term. The residence hall that collects the most tabs will receive a congratulatory prize. Please do your part and save your soda pop tabs. The tiny amount of time and effort it takes can generate enormous results.
For questions please contact Robin Viele ’10 at [email protected].