Ways to Give
Save Your Tabs, Support Families
Something as small as a pop tab can make a big difference. We recycle the tabs you collect at Marion Iron Company, and every pound turns into support for families with a child in the hospital. It’s a fun, easy way for teams, classrooms, churches, and businesses to get involved, whether as a one-time drive or an ongoing project.
Collect with a Pop Tab House
Our Ronald McDonald House pop tab houses make collecting easy and fun. To request a pop tab house, contact us at development@ronaldmcdonaldhouseic.org or at (319) 500-7642, ext. 111
How to turn tabs into money
Pull it off the can and drop it in a container. Not sure a tab is aluminum? Run a magnet over your collection — anything that sticks doesn’t belong.
Cardboard boxes, plastic tubs and buckets all work. Skip milk jugs, two-liter bottles and water-cooler jugs.
The bin outside is there year-round for small drop-offs — no appointment, no minimum. For anything bigger than a bin’s worth, call ahead so someone’s there to help.
Marion Iron Company accepts tabs on our behalf and sends us the check.
Who runs collections
Schools and classrooms
A container in the cafeteria and one announcement can get a collection started. Set a target people can see — fill the tub, ten pounds, a million tabs — and run it as a contest between grades or homerooms.
Scout troops and youth groups
Tab collection is a great way for groups with younger members to support our mission. Collecting happens at your meeting place; the only thing you schedule with us is the drop-off.
Offices and break rooms
Put a container next to the vending machine and empty it when it fills. A department competition tends to fill a bucket faster than a memo.
Where to drop off pop tabs in Iowa City and Marion
Ronald McDonald House Iowa City
730 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City. A 14-gallon bin donation bin is available outside; larger loads are accepted 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. with a call ahead.
Marion Iron Company
4000 3rd Avenue, Marion. They weigh the load and mail a check for the value directly to us.
Frequently asked questions about pop tab collection
No. The program is built around tabs, because they’re clean and they store well.
It takes about 1,200 pop tabs to make a pound. Saving one tab a day, it would take you more than three years to collect a pound on your own, but with a whole classroom or office collecting, it adds up fast!
The value changes with the aluminum market, but can range between 40 to 90 cents a pound. It adds up quickly. In 2026, pop tab donations raised more than $14,000 for families.
We have cardboard collection houses to lend — email development@ronaldmcdonaldhouseic.org and we’ll arrange one. Anything stackable works in the meantime: a box, a tub, a bucket.
Aluminum sells by weight at whatever the market pays that week, so while any one container is a small amount, and the program adds up because classrooms, troops and break rooms across the Corridor keep at it all year. Saving a tab costs nothing, which is why it works better as a standing collection than a one-week push.
Other ways to give
Donate Now
A single gift, or a set amount each month, in about a minute.
Sponsor a Meal
Cover the cost of one evening meal at the House.
Wish Lists
Help stock items the House and Family Rooms need right now.
Donate a Vehicle
Donate your old car and help keep families together.