11-year-old collects over 100K can tabs for Ronald McDonald House
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (KDVR) — A boy in Centennial has spent the last year collecting soda can tabs, raking in more than 100,000 of them in hopes of helping a good cause.
Parker Thomas, 11, got the idea last year when his swim team started collecting the tabs to give to Ronald McDonald House. What started with just a small red cup full of them has now turned into literal garbage cans full, and he said he is not done yet.
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Parker just reached 103,000 tabs collected. Each one is headed to the Ronald McDonald House, which provides help for families with kids in the hospital.
“They recycle these and use the money to help families stay there,” Parker said.
Parker’s mom, Nicole, said a family friend received help from the organization. That encouraged Parker to help.
“We got to go there, we got to experience what it was like,” she said.
Hopes for ‘an infinite loop’ of inspiration
To boost his numbers recently, they posted a call for help on social media — and it’s worked. He’s gotten tens of thousands of tabs in just a couple of weeks.
“I just feel like this is making such a big impact on the community,” Parker said.
They’ve also got collection jugs out in a few places around town, hoping to add more to local businesses. Parker’s mom is proud to see him help those in need.
“I have always said that Parker’s gonna make a difference in the world,” she said.
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And Parker hopes other people will stop to think before tossing their cans too.
“If I can inspire other people to do that, those people can inspire other people to do that, and it’s just an infinite loop,” Parker said.
Parker’s next goal is to reach 500,000 tabs, and he ultimately wants to crack 1 million before bringing them to the Ronald McDonald House. If you have some tabs at home and want to help out, you can email [email protected].
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