By Sarah Police
Staff Writer

Everyday, approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with cancer; some are young, some are old. People emphasize humanity and help each other through programs like Relay for Life or sometimes by simply donating money. But senior Michelle Bizzell has a different way of supporting children with cancer.

During lunch students can be seen drinking Coke and Sprite cans to give them a jolt of energy. But what most students don’t expect to see Bizzell walking around the cafeteria asking students for their pop tabs from their soda cans.

Bizzell has been collecting pop tabs for three years now and her hobby benefits children with critical conditions. Pop tabs are not really something a person thinks a lot about, and Bizzell did not pay attention to them either until she got involved in a club fundraiser.

“I started to collect them when we did the pop tab drive sophomore year in (Environmental Science teacher Holly Anderson’s) class,” Bizzell said. “The For the Children club did a pop tab drive, so I was collecting them because I always forgot to bring change for the change drive.”

After Bizzell starts to run out of space for her pop tabs, she brings them to the local Ronald McDonald House, which then brings them to a local recycling center.

“The recycling center uses the aluminum for steel and they melt them down,” Bizzell said. “They pay a price for the pop tabs and [Ronald McDonald House] gets to keep that money.”

After Ronald McDonald House receives the proceeds from the recycling center, it donates the money to families who have a child with cancer. They focus not only on the health of children, but also try to keep families together while the child is undergoing treatment.

Ronald McDonald House public relations and marketing manager Clara Carrier is familiar with the program Bizzell is involved in.

“This money doesn’t benefit only one child, the money goes directly into the main operating fund of the Chapters, most likely, in support of the operations of the operations of Ronald McDonald Houses,” Carrier said.

For Bizzell, the For the Children fundraiser was just a way to get her started on pop tabs; she didn’t imagine she would continue doing it.

“I went on a plane and saw all the pop tabs on the sodas, so I got all the pop tabs there and by then I was hooked,” Bizzell said. “They didn’t really give a clear date for when it was ending, so I just kept collecting them.”

Since then, Bizzell has become obsessed with collecting pop tabs.

“What’s nice is some people quiz you about why you want the pop tab, and they can’t refuse when you get to the part about children with cancer,” Bizzell said.

Not only does Bizzell seek help from her friends and family, she also asks strangers for their pop tabs.

“I do ask strangers a lot of times, and they’re usually willing to help,” Bizzell said. “I’ve only been refused once, but the person who refused was collecting them herself, so that was OK.”

Not only does the pop tab collecting benefit children with cancer, but it also adds some excitement to an ordinary day.

“The best part is going around with friends and asking strangers for them and just being those silly girls,” Bizzell said. “It’s also fun to find things to store the pop tabs in. Right now, I’m using a tissue box and water bottles.”

Not only does Bizzell collect pop tabs, but her friends have also embraced collecting. Senior Carolyn Mason started collecting pop tabs to support Bizzell and recalls some bizarre things they have done.

“It has gotten to a point where there were cans you put pop tabs in at all of her parties,” Mason said.

Since collecting pop tabs is so easy, Bizzell encourages everyone in her community to get involved. But for Bizzell, it’s been a way to get her friends and family involved in something she loves.

“It is fun to get people into collecting them,” Bizzell said. “All of my friends do it, the church I go to does it, and even the lady at the gym collects the monster pop tabs for me.”