Last month, students in the Occupational Course of Study program here at Piedmont visited the Ronald McDonald House, donating 15 pounds of pop tabs.

The Ronald McDonald House is a nonprofit organization, and all proceeds go directly to funding family services. Every year, the RMH receives around $4,000-$5,000 for all the tabs donated, and they partner with United Scrap Metal in South Charlotte to melt and process the aluminum.

“The main reason we collect the tabs is to build awareness for our mission of keeping families close, because every time you pull a tab or ask someone for their tab, you think about RMHC or you get to talk about RMHC,” said Kristin Young, Piedmont’s contact at the Ronald McDonald House. “Those thousands of tabs we recycle every year count towards thousands of impressions–thousands of times that someone mentions RMHC!”

As part of the OCS curriculum at Piedmont, students invest in the community by volunteering in different ways. At this most recent visit, students delivered 19,005 tabs (15 pounds) and were added to the Million Tab Collection Challenge. For their next visit to the Ronald McDonald House, OCS teacher Tracy Sizemore said students may bake cookies for residents, prune the flowers and shrubs in the memory garden, hang out with teens and children staying at the house, and other opportunities to brighten up the RMH. 

“Piedmont, let’s exceed our numbers for next year’s collection,” said Sizemore. “Continue collecting your tabs, especially over the summer months. Get your family, friends, and churches involved. Let’s keep Piedmont on the Million Tab Collection Challenge. But, ultimately, let’s support those families in a home away from home.”