Schmitt tops of the pops for 2nd straight year

By Jeff Blasdell  editorial@therepublic.com First Posted: June 16, 2012 - 3:21 am Last Updated: June 16, 2012 - 3:23 am

For the 11th straight year, students of BCSC have joined to collect almost one ton of pop tabs.

For the families of critically ill or injured children at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, those pop tabs help make life a little easier as they support the Ronald McDonald House of Indianapolis.

At the Ronald McDonald House, families can stay close to their sick children and share meals and the support of other families who are in similar situations for only $15 per night. And if a family cannot afford the $15, it stays for free.

This year’s collection resulted in a donation of $1,073 and brings the total support to $11,260 over the 11 years.

The pop tab collection contest was started in 2002 by the Columbus East and North Key Clubs, which continue the contest with the support of their sponsors, the Meridian Kiwanis Club of Columbus.

Each year the three schools which collect the most tabs per student are recognized by having their names placed on the three traveling trophies. They get to display the trophies at their schools for the entire year.

This year Schmitt Elementary collected the most tabs by a single local school in one year — 893,604 tabs — to take first place for the second year in a row. Rockcreek Elementary also repeated in second place, collecting 284,688 tabs, and Mt. Healthy placed third with 192,428 tabs. Mt. Healthy also received a plaque from the Ronald McDonald House, recognizing that it surpassed the 1-million-tab mark. Schmitt received one for surpassing 2 million tabs. Other schools that have received milestone plaques in the past include Parkside and Southside elementaries (1 million), Fodrea and Taylorsville elementaries (2 million), Richards and Rockcreek elementaries (3 million).

Each year the top three schools are recognized at a presentation by Ronald McDonald that’s held at the winning school.

Debra Acton, who has coordinated the effort for Schmitt Elementary the past three years, said that “she wanted to help Schmitt be recognized in the community for something positive” and added that “she also likes to win!”

Schmitt has finished in second place once and is the reigning champ for the past two years.

The Key Clubs appreciate the effort of all the schools, and especially the leaders who coordinate the pop-tab collection at each school, to help us make life a little easier for the families of critically ill or injured children in Indiana.

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