1.1 million aluminum tabs collected for Ronald McDonald House fundraiser

Local schools and individuals collected more than 1.1 million aluminum tabs in the Pull Tab Pandemonium fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri.

The tabs will be sold to New World Recycling, which has drop-off sites in Columbia and Jefferson City. The price of aluminum fluctuates, but the 952 pounds of aluminum collected is expected to raise about $300, said Rachel Ellersieck, director of development and communication for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Taylor Carr and her family collected 345 pounds of aluminum, winning the family category. Mill Creek Elementary School in Columbia raised 55 pounds, Oakland Middle School in Columbia raised 45 pounds and Smith Cotton High School in Sedalia raised 63 pounds.

Andrea Wemhoff collected the most tabs as an individual, with a total of 49 pounds of aluminum. She is a 33-year-old with Down syndrome and an employee at Central Missouri Subcontracting Enterprises. Collecting tabs has been a daily habit of Andrea's for years, and she enjoys sorting them by color, her mother Donna Wemhoff said.

Andrea Wemhoff pulls the tabs from cans at their house and has relatives mail her plastic bags full of aluminum tabs. This is her second year donating the tabs to charity.

"She orchestrates it all herself and keeps it all in a cardboard box," Donna Wemhoff said. "I knew we had a lot (of tabs), but I didn't realize it was so many."

Money raised from the fundraiser will go to support programs that provide assistance to children's health, and to the Ronald McDonald Houses which provide low-cost housing to families whose children receive care at Columbia facilities.