Thousand's of Pop Tabs Donated in Jacy's Honor

February 24, 2021

CALHOUN COUNTY, Iowa —

Almost three years after KCCI first told you about a massive effort to collect pop tabs, the tiny bits of aluminum keep rolling in.

In 2018, as part of his This is Iowa series, Eric Hanson shared Jacy McAlexander's mission. The 17-year-old cancer patient wanted to collect a million tabs to support the Des Moines Ronald McDonald House. Jacy passed away that year, but his friends didn't stop. They collected literally a ton of tabs.

After seeing Eric's story, KCCI viewers started collecting pop tabs too. Colin, a young man from Colfax, set out a collection box at his family's Napa store and this week, he turned in more than 50 pounds of tabs to Jacy's parents.

That's about 56,000 tabs.

The state 4H council has a goal to collect 2,021 pounds of tabs this year and they've set up mailbox collection sites in Lake City, Rockwell City and Manson.