Ronald McDonald Houses provide a residence for families who are dealing with the serious illness of a child. Each Ronald McDonald House is independently owned and operated and depends upon the support of their community to keep their doors open to families facing a medical crisis. Pop tab collecting is one important fundraising effort in which the community can participate. What is a Pop Tab? A pop tab is the piece of metal that opens aluminum cans. Like the can, the pop tab is recyclable. Although small, it is a highly valuable, refundable piece. Why Collect Pop Tabs? Pop tabs are an easy way to recycle and help others. It is a task that people of all ages can do. These small pieces are a source of charitable revenue for the Ronald McDonald House. The amount of money received is determined by the weight of aluminum collected. All the collections add up to make a heartfelt impact in working together to provide a home-away-from-home for families during the medical treatment of their seriously ill children. The dollars raised are used for operations and supplies for the Ronald McDonald House. Money received is not credited toward any medical treatment. Since 1987, the Pop Tab Program at the Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities has raised over $800,000 towards our operating budget and helped defer the cost for families staying here. Why Not The Whole Can? Pop tabs are made of higher quality aluminum than cans and may be more easily recycled. Pop tabs can make a big impact when collected in numbers, as they are smaller and cleaner than collecting cans. Cans may also collect mold, which can be a health hazard for our children staying at the House. Plus, pop tabs take up less space and are easier for us to handle when received in large volumes. How to Get Started All you have to do is pop off the tabs from your pop or other beverage cans, vegetable and soup cans, pet food cans, special diet food cans, tennis ball containers, etc, then save them in any container (such as a plastic container). Place your collection container in a central location at home, work or school. When your container is full, you can drop-off your pop tabs at the Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities any day of the week during office hours. Many local McDonald’s restaurants also accept pop tabs. Pop Tabs in the Classroom Many schools collect pop tabs as a way of teaching students about philanthropy. To assist teachers in their efforts, we have created a series of lesson plans designed for students in grades K-2 and 3-5. There are four lessons plans for each grade grouping and each lesson takes approximately an hour to complete. All lesson plans have been aligned to Minnesota and national curriculum standards. K-2 Pop Tab Lesson Plans - PDF K-2 Pop Tab Game Board - PDF 3-5 Pop Tab Lesson Plans - PDF Pop Tab Containers The Ronald McDonald House has small, reusable pop tab collector houses available for groups and organizations. Each house can hold about 700 tabs. These convenient containers can be picked up at the House. Containers can also be made out of ice cream buckets, copy paper boxes or any other sturdy container. Free stickers are available to label your container as an official pop tab receptacle. What if I Don’t Live in the Twin Cities? If you don’t live in the greater Twin Cities area, but you would like your pop tabs to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities, simply redeem your collected pop tabs at a recycler near you and ask them to make the check out to the Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities, which you can then send directly to the House. Or perhaps there is another Ronald McDonald House in your area—if they have a pop tab recycling program, you can donate your pop tabs to them. Fun Facts The Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities originated The Ronald McDonald House Pop Tab Collection Program as a fundraiser in 1987. The can known today with the ring-pull (pop tab) was invented in 1962 by Ermal Fraze in Kettering, Ohio. Today there is a popular amphitheater in Dayton, Ohio named after this pop tab inventor. It is called the Kettering’s Fraze Pavilion. Did You Know?   •  1 inch = 1 pop tab   •  1 foot = 12 pop tabs   •  1 meter = 40 pop tabs   •  1 km = 40,000 pop tabs   •  1 mile = 63,360 pop tabs   •  1 pound = 1,267 pop tabs   •  1 million tabs = 730 pounds   •  730 pounds = $511 Pop tabs bring approximately $35,000 per year to our House. For more information about the Ronald McDonald House Pop Tab Program, or to order brochures or houses for your pop tab collecting program, please contact Katie Dahill, Volunteer Director, at 612.767.2788 or by email at poptabs@rmhtwincities.org.