CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Several breweries and cideries in the Charlotte area are collecting tabs for a good cause.


What You Need To Know

  • Several breweries and cideries in Charlotte are collecting can tabs

  • The tabs will eventually be donated to the Ronald McDonald House

  • The tabs raise funds for families to be able to stay at the house while their children are at the hospital

Divine Barrel Brewing challenged other businesses to collect tabs as part of the 2021 Can Tab Challenge.

The tabs will ultimately be donated to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte.

Divine Barrel Co-owner Gavin Toth says the business started saving tabs in 2019 and last year it challenged customers to collect them.

This year, it’s doing a year-long competition with at least eight breweries and one cidery.

“It’s something that's important to us and it's easy to do, so anyone can be involved, especially breweries and cideries that are now canning a lot of their beer because of the pandemic,” Toth says.

Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte’s Associate Director of Advancement for Marketing and Communications Kristin Young says the nonprofit organization trades the tabs collected at recycling centers and exchanges them for money.

“You’re thinking this may be the trash, but it's not. These little aluminum tabs, they’re actually between 40 and 50 cents per pound,” Young explains.

The money goes into the family fund, which pays for families to stay at the home while their children are at the hospital.

“We couldn't provide this home away from home for our families without our community,” Young says.

Jeff and Rachel Phillips, from Indian Land, South Carolina, experienced the impact of the Ronald McDonald House firsthand.

In 2015, they stayed in the house with their son Ryan. They spent 103 days there while their daughter, Sarah, was undergoing treatment at a Charlotte hospital nearby.

“When you're in that environment as a family and you get calls at like two o'clock in the morning that your daughter is going into emergency surgery, 45 minutes would be an eternity to drive,” Jeff says.

Their gratitude prompted Ryan to start a pop tab collection drive at school. In the past two years, he has collected 90 pounds for the Ronald McDonald House.

“For other people to be able to have the abilities that we did when we were at the Ronald McDonald House,” Ryan says.

The family is now thrilled to hear businesses in the Charlotte area are giving back.

Toth says for them it is important to join this effort for an organization that helps others.

“They’ve done a lot for the community and they help out families in need that can't necessarily afford to stay somewhere while their child is in the hospital,” Toth explains.

Heist Brewery, Southern Strain Brewing Company, GoodRoad Ciderworks, Resident Culture Brewing Company, Birdsong Brewing Co., Salud Cerveceria & Salud Beer Shop, Lenny Boy Brewing Co. and Protagonist are also participating in the competition.

Customers can drop off tabs to those businesses.

You can also drop them off in front of the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information, click here.

Last year,  businesses and community members gave 6,185 pop tabs to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. The donation turned into more than $2,200, which pays for 16 nights at the house for a family.