More than 130,000 pop tabs collected at Supply Elementary School

SUPPLY—Students at Supply Elementary School prove you’re never too young to make a difference.

KATHRYN JACEWICZ

Students in Supply Elementary School’s National Elementary Honor Society bundle up pop tabs collected from classrooms at the school. Fifth-grader Bravin Troy, right in blue, decided the NEHS could help local senior Brett Flaccavento collect pop tabs as part of his Eagle Scout project. The students collected more than 130,000 pop tabs in two weeks.

Buy this photo

Students in the school’s National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS) chapter helped collect more than 130,000 pop tabs while helping a local senior work toward his Eagle Scout rank.

Students in NEHS are required to participate in four community service projects each year. During a recent chapter meeting to discuss possible projects, fifth-grader Bravin Troy had a suggestion.

He knew West Brunswick High School senior Brett Flaccavento was collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Durham as part of his Eagle Scout project. Troy knew Flaccavento through the scouts and thought the NEHS could help.

“I decided it would be cool to do at school,” Troy said.

Nancy Bryant, NEHS advisor, said the chapter ran with the idea. The students organized a school-wide collection and passed out collection boxes to every classroom. Pop tabs were collected for two weeks, and the NEHS students oversaw every aspect.

Bryant said the past two Fridays, NEHS students collected and tallied tabs brought in from each classroom.

“I think it’s amazing,” Troy said of the school’s participation. “I was sure there were thousands and thousands.”

In just two weeks, the students and staff collected a total of 131,750 pop tabs. Debbie Noble, Sally Brown and Candace Hart’s classrooms collected the most pop tabs, and Flaccavento’s grandfather agreed to sponsor ice cream parties for them.

Flaccavento has been collecting pop tabs at various locations throughout the county and said the students from NEHS have greatly helped his final total.

“They did a really good job,” Flaccavento said.

According to the website, the Ronald McDonald House offers families of hospitalized children a place to stay close to the hospital “at little or no cost.”

“Our houses are built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on healing their child—not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal or where they will lay their head at night to rest,” the site states. 

North Carolina Ronald McDonald Houses are located in Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Greenville.