Maynardville Elementary School has done it once again! For the second year in a row, MES has been the first school to fill a recycled water container with pop top tabs – in fact, they had one and a half full at their November 4H meeting! 4H’ers in each elementary school are collecting pop top tabs as a community service project. All tabs will be donated to our local Ronald McDonald House for recycling.

In the process of collecting these tabs, the students learn the importance of recycling, and are encouraged to recycle the entire aluminum can. They also learn about the mission of the Ronald McDonald House Charities across our nation, especially the important role it plays in supporting families with children needing long term care at the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Understanding “community” and the importance of giving back to their own community is another important lesson learned. Our older students, in grades 6-12, are encouraged to join 4H Honor Club where they can participate in a variety of community service projects.

Each elementary school is provided with a recycled water container to hold their pop tabs. 4H was pleased to see that all schools were working on collecting tabs at our November meetings. Paulette Elementary almost had a full jug! However, when arriving at Maynardville Elementary School for their last meeting of the month, the students turned in one and 1/2 full jugs! We are so excited about the great job the schools are doing this year and would like to thank all the students, teachers and staff that have contributed, as well as the 4H officers, and especially the Community Service officers at these schools. This project continues throughout the school year and the students are even developing additional projects to serve their communities!

To conclude this project, the 4H Honor Club will deliver the donation to the Ronald McDonald House. In previous years, the teens have volunteered additional time at the Ronald McDonald House. They choose how best to assist, it may be cooking dinner or baking cookies for the families in residence, it may be weeding or adding flowers to the landscaping – who knows what they will choose! This year, some of our elementary school 4H officers are looking forward to joining them as Honor Club makes its annual delivery. If you know of a 6th – 12th grade student interested in community service, please contact our new 4H Agent, Sarah Stokely-Cook at madsstok@utk.edu, or call 865-992-8038.

You too, can help our 4th and 5th grade 4H’ers meet their school tab collection goals – just drop off your tabs at your nearest elementary school. The 4H community, parents residing at the Ronald McDonald House, and the Ronald McDonald House Charities all thank you.