Aluminum Tabs Help Cincinnati Shriners Hospital (NAPSA)—Over a year and a half, fourth and fifth grade students collected 1,000,000 aluminum can tabs, weighing just over 700 pounds. Part of the project’s purpose was to learn about volume but it became a lesson in giving as well. Whenthe collection was completed, the tabs were cashed in for $850. The money was donated to Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati, where twin classmates Shanna and Brian Howard have been patients for more than nine years. Fourth grade teacher Alison Hanger and students at Walnut Elementary School in Ohio started the tab collection as an exercise in values, reading large numbers, recognizing how much large numbers are and how to count and measure them. Students had to figure out what was the best way to count, weigh and store the tabs. The Howards have been patients at the burn hospital since 1992, when a water heater exploded in their home. Brian received burns to 50 percent of his body and Shanna, 40 percent. Since Brian and Shannastarted school, nurses from Shriners Hospital have regularly visited the school to explain to students the seriousness of the twins’ injuries and how important fellow students are to any burn patient's recovery. The Howard family knew that the Ladies Oriental Shrine organization in Cincinnati collected tabs to raise money for the hospital. Once the tabs were counted, Dale Cline, President of Pickaway County Shrine Club and Past Potentate of Aladdin Shrine in Columbus, visited the school on behalf of the Cincinnati Shriners Keeping tabs for Shriners Hospital. Hospital to accept the donation and make a short presentation about the hospital. The funds raised were used for small items at the hospital, such as patient gifts and crafts for the outpatient clinic. Students at Walnut Elementary were rewarded with a trip to the Shrine Circus. For more information on Shriners’ network of 22 hospitals that provide free treatment to children with orthopaedic problems, burns and spinal cord injuries, write to: Shriners International Headquarters, Public Relations Dept., 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa FL 33607, or visit the Website at www.shrinershq.org. If you know a child Shriners can help, call 1-800-237-5055 in the United States or 1-800-3617256 in Canada. Shriners Hospitals provide free treatment to children under age 18 without regard to race, religion or relationship to a Shriner.
