Behind the Idea

The Story

In December of 2015 my 15 year old nephew, Tyler Schnacky, passed away after a life-long battle with a heart defect he was born with.  Even after 30 heart surgeries, countless needle injections / doses of medicine...and having to sit out on a lot of the fun of being a kid...he held on to an amazing attitude and outlook on life which made me proud to call him my nephew.

He was lucky enough to receive a  heart transplant and underwent the surgery with 100% success, but either his body rejected the heart or somebody above had better plans for him, because he died two weeks after the surgery.  

The Reason

A week after Tyler's heart transplant we got a call from the family that he wasn't doing so good.  We hit the road for the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the surgery took place.  Fortunately his family was able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital.  

One night, the whole family (15 of us) was invited to have dinner at the House.  It was one of most heart-warming experiences I've ever had!  The staff and volunteers had so much love and support for all of the families there and the house offered great amenities to keep the families comfortable and entertained.

What most people don't think about is how much money it takes to maintain a facility like that and pop tab donations are a large contributor!

The Goal

Children need their loved ones near to them during such difficult times and the world needs to know how important pop tab collection is. We need to raise that awareness.  Don't let another pop tab miss it's 'calling' to help a family in need.  It's so easy!  Who knows...someone in your family may need one of these houses one day? 

Let's make the world a better place one tab at a time!

John Caplinger, Founder