This is the article that ran in today's local paper. Ellie has always had such a compassionate heart and the amazing ability to think about other people! What a blessing it is to have her in our family!!
Ellie Mons began collecting soda pop tabs for Ronald McDonald houses to show support for friends she had at Primary Children's Medical Center. It is a simple project, but it's grown to include the community, Ellie's family and classmates.
A year and more than 36,000 pop tabs later, 8-year-old Ellie doesn't think she'll ever stop collecting.
"It's awesome," she said.
Sitting with bags and jars filled to the brim with her collection of 36,684 tabs, Ellie said she began the project with her family. She then approached the principal of Nibley Elementary, where she was a student and her mother was a teacher, to see if she could set up containers in the school to collect tabs. The school and the PTA got involved, and cases were put outside Heather Mons' classroom. Ellie also wrote letters to her neighbors, asking that they donate their pop tabs.
She said she has had positive feedback from those who have donated.
"They thought it was cool," she said.
Ellie said she has also approached strangers drinking from a pop can and asked for their tab. But Ellie hasn't added much to the collection herself.
"I really don't drink a lot of soda," she said.
Ellie has already made one delivery to a Ronald McDonald House, and she said she will donate her second collection of can tabs sometime this summer.
Heather said Ronald McDonald houses determine the amount of money raised through tab donations by weight. The tabs, which are pure aluminum, are recycled. Heather said last year the Ronald McDonald House in Salt Lake City recycled $20,000 worth of pop tabs and used that money to pay for utilities.
Heather said the project is easy, but for patrons of Ronald McDonald houses, the end result is a big deal.
"For kids especially it's cool because it's a little thing that they can do and it makes a huge difference for families," she said.
Heather said she believes if kids are given the opportunity to do good, they will, and she is glad Ellie has provided that opportunity for others.
"It's just such an easy thing to be teaching kids to be thinking outside of themselves," Heather said.
What would Halloween be without Cora and Ellie dressing up together and trick-or-treating. It is so fun for me to watch Ellie with Cora. She makes sure that she gets a treat at every stop. 
