The St. Mary Nativity Catholic School’s Team Green environmental club has a new goal set for this academic school year. The team’s new project is to collect 1-million aluminum tabs from beverages for the Ronald McDonald House in Winfield.
Team Green has partnered with a new club at the school, the Helping Hands Club, in coordinating the effort to collect the necessary tabs to get the school’s name on a decorated wall in the home away from home for ill children receiving care at Central DuPage Hospital. The students of the school have accepted donations from family, friends, parishioners, neighbors, a local business, and an adult community for their drive for the Thanks a Million Program. It is their aim to help and make a difference in the lives of children their own age.
Large donations have been made by Banana Joe’s Barbershop in Joliet and the Grand Haven Adult Community in Romeoville. Scott Slocum, of WJOL radio, has promoted this endeavor on his morning show by having a teacher of the school, Carol Stiff, call in to update listeners. As of the end of March, the school’s organizations are approximately halfway to their goal with over 490,000 tabs recorded.
Members of the two clubs have become aware of the difference they can make in these children’s lives through the Thanks a Million Program. Students have repurposed school milk cartons to resemble houses decorated in McDonald colors as a reminder of their cause. They created the “houses” for distribution to grandparents of the school children on Grandparents’ Day and to parishioners of the school church.
For the last three years, the students of St. Mary Nativity grade school have received the support of those in the school community to help them win first place in the Will County plastic bag recycling contest. Through this partnership the students won the contest in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and accepted the prize with their moderator, Carole Frano. In 2015, they collected 110 pounds of plastic bags. The new challenge of collecting the tabs has become their new focus.
Anyone interested in helping the St. Mary Nativity’s service and environmental club members in reaching their goal can drop off the aluminum tabs at the school office at 702 N. Broadway, Joliet. Arrangements may be made for large donations to be picked up by contacting the school office at 815-722-8518.
