Union County elementary schools’ 4-H Clubs just wrapped up their annual pop top tab collection drive to benefit Ronald McDonald House, and students at Maynardville Elementary enjoyed an ice cream party to celebrate collecting more tabs than any other school. They combined their favorite choice of ice cream flavor and topping and enjoyed the sweet rewards of their success during the last in-school 4-H meeting of the year. What a great way to finish an exciting year of learning about community service and volunteerism.
For the friendly competition, which runs the entire school year, each elementary school in the county is provided with a large, recycled water container to collect their pop tabs. Students bring in the tabs of soda cans and deposit the in the jug until it is full. Some schools fill their jugs more than once and have to transfer them into another container to continue collecting! Friends, family members, teachers, and school staff are encouraged to assist in the collection process. In fact, when asked about the secret to their success - whether it was due to them actually drinking way more soda than any other kids in the county, MES students explained how they thought to invite their whole school - not just the 4th and 5th grade classes who participate in 4-H - to help collect tabs. A terrific idea, both for increasing their numbers of pop tabs and for expanding the number of people involved in their community service project. These kids “understood the assignment”!
      Throughout the service project, students keep adding tabs until the end of the school year, when the results are calculated. Once the individual schools’ totals have been added up, all of the tabs are combined and donated to the local Ronald McDonald House who recycles the tabs to raise money for their programs and to support the families they serve.
In the process of collecting these pop tabs, the students learn the importance of recycling and are, of course, encouraged to recycle the entire aluminum can as well! They also learn about the mission of the Ronald McDonald House Charities across our nation and especially the important role it plays in supporting children and families requiring long term care at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Further, they learn about “community” and the importance of giving back to their own community, whether that be our local community of Union County or the wider community of children in need across east Tennessee.
The University of Tennessee / Tennessee State University 4-H Youth Development Extension are very proud of the great job all of our schools did this year. We would like to thank all the students, families, teachers, and staff that have contributed, as well as the 4H officers who helped organize the event. At Maynardville Elementary, our 5th grade Community Service officers are Makinzee Eubanks, Chloe Harvey, and Vince Jolly. In 4th grade, the Community Service officers are Presley Lay and Jaxson Noland.
The next collection drive will start again in the fall. All of our readers can help our 4th and 5th grade 4H’ers meet their school tab collection goals. Please save and 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 for your kindness and support.
Please stay tuned for exciting summer programming through 4-H Youth Development. Older students, too, are encouraged to join 4H Honor Club where they can participate in a variety of community service projects. If you know of any rising 6th through 12th grade students interested in community service and leadership opportunities, please contact Union County 4H Youth Development Agent Ann Ramsey at aramse12@tnstate.edu, or call (865) 992-8038 for more information.