Man donates 750lbs of pop can tabs to Ann Arbor's Ronald McDonald House cause

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Ronald McDonald House charity provides a home away from home for families of critically ill children.

The Ann Arbor location is home to an interesting competition that is also a fundraiser - which got a big boost.

Allan Levy got a tour of that Ronald McDonald House where the 85-year-old recently made a large and some might say - unusual - donation of 750 pounds of pop can lids.

Yes, 560,000 tabs collected over the course of six years.

They were filling entire rooms at Levy's house - and now he's given them to Ronald McDonald House for families of critically ill kids at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.

"It's been a labor of love," he said. "I've just loved it and to be able to help the Ronald McDonald House, is priceless."

Levy knows how much support sick children and their parents need. He remembers once while visiting Mott he made a little girl laugh.

"And the mother said she hadn't laughed in three months," he recalled. Choking back tears, Levy says he'll never forget it. "There's just no substitute for that kind of feeling."

The kind of feeling you get when you can help, which brings us back to the pop tabs. It turns out those 560,000 pop tabs were only worth about $250.00. But there's an added bonus to donating them to Ronald McDonald House Ann Arbor. Each year this house competes against the Ronald McDonald House near Ohio State in the Tab Top Challenge - and they almost always lose.

But with Allan's donation Ann Arbor already has a 750 lb. head start.

"Anybody can score against Ohio State," Levy said. "They can do it with just one can tab."

"We might actually beat them this year. I'm pretty excited," said Kim Kelly of the Ronald McDonald House Ann Arbor.

Levy, a "Michigan man" is excited too, fondly remembering his years with the baseball team pitching for the university back in 1955. He still follows the baseball team and loves all things maize and blue - and now he's a big fan of Ronald McDonald House, too.

"I want them to see the miracle that I consider the Ronald McDonald House to be," he said.

He's grateful to everyone who helped collect those tabs - and hopes more people will follow suit.

"It's easy to do. It doesn't cost you any money but you feel richly rewarded," he said.

"It's been a really nice addition to our pop tab story and we're grateful for every one of those tabs," said Kelly.

For more information, go to: https://rmhcannarbor.org/