The Charlottesville Ronald McDonald House is kicking off a fundraising event involving seniors, to help families who need a place to stay when their children are sick. All they have to do is drink a soda.
It's called Pop-Cycling. Seniors, and others, collect soda tabs by putting them in a box in the lobby of their building. Then the tabs get recycled for 30 to 40 cents a pound.
It doesn't seem like a lot, but organizers say it all adds up to make a big difference in funding for the Ronald McDonald House. They also say seniors know more than anyone about the struggles families go through, and want to help.
"They are the wisest amongst us and they understand, you don't have to say very much when you say this is for sick children and their families and they know. So we're very excited with the opportunity to partner with these folks," said Rita Ralston, the executive director of Charlottesville's Ronald McDonald House.
Ralston said the seniors will benefit from being involved in their communities and in turn, the families at the Ronald McDonald House benefit from the funds they raise.
Wednesday, Ralston hosted an event at Our Lady of Peace Retirement Community to unveil the new program. She showed a movie about the Ronald McDonald House, talked to the seniors about the program, and answered questions. She then left behind a Ronald McDonald House box that the seniors will use to start collecting tabs.
"They can get their families involved. They can be involved. It's something that we can just have in the lobby and they can contribute to that, knowing that it's going to a worthwhile cause," said Pam Butler from Our Lady of Peace.
Ralston says the help in fundraising is much needed. The owners of local McDonald's franchises donate enough money for up to 20 percent of Charlottesville's Ronald McDonald House budget, but most of the money they need comes from fundraisers like these.
Ralston also said that some of the Ronald McDonald Houses in larger cities raise as much as $70,000 a year through collecting soda can tabs. In Charlottesville, recycling the tabs has raised up to a few thousand dollars a year.
Ralston has plans to reach out to two other senior living facilities this week, and she said she will continue to expand the senior Pop-Cycling program as much as possible in the future.
"We can't think of any better collaboration than our senior citizens with the Ronald McDonald House to collect tabs and support families," Ralston said.
