UPWARD BOUND STUDENTS DONATE POP TABS

Students in the Upward Bound summer program at Iowa Lakes Community College recently donated pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.

As part of the summer residential program of Upward Bound, staff and students collected pop tabs. The “families” had a contest to see which group could collect the most tabs. Students collect pop tabs throughout the year and bring them to campus during the summer program. Some students recruit family and friends to assist in the pop tab collection process.

“This year approximately 30 pounds of pop tabs were collected,” said Becky Domek, Upward Bound Activity Coordinator. “That represents approximately 38,000 pop tabs.”

The pop tab collection program was started in 1987 by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Ronald McDonald House. Some 400 million pop tabs have been collected which has generated more than $4 million to the cause. According to experts, the tabs are considered valuable in the recycling industry because they contain a pure form of metal to recyclers.

The students delivered their collection to the McDonalds in Estherville earlier this month.

PRINT MEDIA – Photo attached: Students delivering the 30 pounds of pop tabs included Tracy Fay, Michelle Lyster, Michelle Wedebrand, Thomas Markeson, Kayla Meehan and Jason Harvey.