When Jillian Fittry first saw her cousin plucking the aluminum tabs off pop cans at a family event, she was curious about why they were worth saving.
Patsy Dean told Fittry the money from recycling them went to Women and Children’s Hospital to buy games and other things for children to do during long hours spent on dialysis machines. Fittry decided she wanted to help too and got involved with the effort right away. Two years later, the 8-year-old is collecting tabs by the gallon.
“Now she’s put an ad in her neighborhood newsletter and the neighbors save them for us,” Dean said.
Collecting the tiny aluminum parts still allows people to get their nickle-per-can deposit back while wringing out a little extra money. Fittry also snags the tabs at any party or gathering she attends.
Dean said saving can tabs is a popular fundraising technique for churches down south, and now that word of Fittry’s local effort has spread she’s even getting shipments of tabs from out-of-state relatives. One man spent more to ship the tabs than they were worth when sold for recycling, but to him, it was all about supporting the effort.
Fittry periodically hauls in her five-gallon buckets full of tabs to St. Amelia’s outreach center and helps put them in bags before sending them off with Rosemary Mayer to recycle. Mayer also collects more than her fair share of tabs thanks to community backing.
“People leave bags hanging on my door, put tabs in my mail slot. They know I’m the tab lady at St. Amelia,” Mayer said.
For more information on the fundraising effort or how to contribute, call St. Amelia Outreach at 832-2542.
Local News
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Daniel Pye/Staff
February 4, 2010
TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Student saves pop can tabs to help sick kids
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