Students living on Oakland University’s campus may want to think twice about tossing their pop-can tabs. For Oct., residential hall front desks will be accepting pop-can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. This competition is hosted by the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), a campus organization that has been reestablished at Oakland University this year.
The NRHH is an organization advocating for the interests and welfare of students living within the residence halls. Pedro Marin, the advisor for OU’s NRHH branch, explains more about what the organization is all about.
“NRHH focuses on two values — recognition and service,” Marin said. “So, we’d like to recognize our campus community and local community, and we’d like to serve our campus community and our local community.”
While the organization has been on hiatus since 2020, the group is making its triumphant return with this charity event. Stephanie Goleski, the president of OU’s NRHH branch, explains more about the event.
“We’re doing a pop can tab drive, and it’s going on from October 1 to October 31,” Goleski said. “It’s more of a passive program. A lot of people have extracurriculars, so we figured that this would be really great because it’s just a drop-off program. At the end of the month, the hall that has the greatest amount of tabs will win a cider and donut party.”
Pop can tab drives are very popular, as the tabs can be recycled and turned into a financial sum for each pound collected. The proceeds collected from this event will go towards the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Marin explains what Ronald McDonald House Charities are and how NRHH has been involved with their organization.
“All those donations are being sent to the Ronald McDonald House,” Marin said. “They’re a pretty cool organization that helps children that go through terminal diseases. A lot of other [NRHH] chapters in the region help with Ronald McDonald House through their events, like pop can drives or pop tab drives.
“It’s our first time for OU specifically, but it’s not new for NRHH.”
Community service events are no stranger to NRHH, as they are also planning on doing a couple each semester. Marin talks about some events NRHH has done in the past.
“Service projects that we’ve done in the past are dog toy making for a local shelter, and we’ve made blankets for people who need access to those blankets,” Marin said. “We also have typically gone into the community as well to do service hours at specific locations, like nursing homes or at soup kitchens.”
While their main goal is to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House, NRHH is doing this event to help put themselves back on the map. Goleski explains their main goal as a club.
“We’re definitely trying to get it in people’s heads that we are a club focused on serving the local community,” Goleski said. “We’re trying to really teach people about what we do and how our two biggest things are service and recognition.”
To learn more about the event or donate pop can tabs, visit an OU residence hall front desk. For more information on NRHH and how to join, please visit their website or contact [email protected].
