Have you ever wondered why friends, family and co-workers ask you to save pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald Family Room? Have you thought, “That's a nice gesture, but I can't imagine how it will make a difference”?

Well, those little tabs of aluminum make a BIG DIFFERENCE, and we're grateful to everyone who takes the time to save them. If you bring the pop tabs to us or take them to the Omni Source Recycling Center* and ask them to credit the tabs to the Ronald McDonald Family Room in South Bend, we get cash from your recycling efforts.

In the few years since we established our pop tab program, we've generated over $6,500. Our sister facility in Indianapolis has raised over $217,000 in the same amount of time! Your participation can make a difference.

Here's a way to keep track of what you collect.

• 1,000 tabs = one pound (a Pringles can holds about 1,000)
• 1,000 pounds = 2,534,000 tabs
• 1 tab = 1 inch
• 1,000,000 tabs = 16.75 miles

Here are convenient ways to save tabs:

• Classroom Fish Tanks – (empty, of course!) – are great for collections. Students can see the level rise each day. One local elementary school kept its fish tank in the school office for the kids to see every day. (They collected over 300 lbs.)
• Milk Jugs – easy to weigh and handle. Even small children can carry them.
• Rubber Trash Cans – work well for a large pop tab collection. They’re sturdy and can be easily moved from one location to another.
• Businesses often place empty coffee cans or water bottles in break rooms, kitchens, and lobbies. Cut a hole in the plastic lid to make a neat receptacle.

Drop-off Locations

• OmniSource – 1305 Prairie Ave, South Bend, IN, 574-287-3311
• Any local McDonald's Restaurant
• KADA Partnership office at 118 S. Mill St. in Mishawaka
• Ronald McDonald Family Room in Memorial Hospital, 3rd Floor

** Be sure to ask them to credit the Ronald McDonald Family Room in South Bend and give them your organization’s name so they can notify us!

Our goal is to involve EVERYONE in our community. Every tab counts!
For more information, call the Family Room at 574-647-3020 or send us an e-mail
at kmontgomery@rmhcmichiana.org.