In 2001, Maralee Bixbee of Windsor was born with an unforeseen blood disorder called alothrombocytopenia. Luckily for her and her family, Maralee was treated and her’s is a happy ending. Not all kids have the same ending though.

While Maralee was being treated in the ICU, her family stayed at a Ronald McDonald facility for six nights. Thankful for the hospitality and care, Maralee’s parents asked what they could do to give back. Employees explained the soda tab program to them. At the time Maralee’s dad was teaching in an elementary school in Naples and started collecting the tabs with his students. A local newspaper did an article on Maralee’s story and that article was tucked away until she was working on a timeline assignment in 3rd grade.

Karen Bixby
Karen Bixby
loading...

Once Maralee read the article and she and her parents talked about the background, she asked if they thought her school could collect tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse. Her parents told her it was up to her and Maralee didn't just toss around the idea, she ran with it. Maralee made an appointment with her principal, Lisa Milano, who embraced the idea and allowed her to introduce the program to her classmates.

Through her tab collecting efforts, Maralee won a community service award which came with a $1000 prize. Without a second though, she donated it to the Ronald McDonald House Charity in Syracuse.

Karen Bixby
Karen Bixby
loading...

Maralee is now going into 8th grade and continues to collect tabs with her family, friends and classmates for the Ronald McDonald House. But that's not all. In addition to tabs, Maralee has also donated birthday and Christmas money over the years as well as books and movies. Last Thanksgiving she asked if her family would join her in volunteering to serve the families staying there instead of having dinner at home. She has already signed us up again for 2014 and will be doing her community service for the National Junior Honor Society in Syracuse.

Maralee continues to collect soda tabs and has a large garbage can in the lobbies of both CR Weeks Elementary and Windsor Middle School. But Marlee isn't stopping there! Next on her agenda is to have smaller buckets in local businesses and to continually spread the word about the "home away from home." If you're the owner of a small business and would like to put a bucket in your business, email your information to me here and I'll connect you with Maralee's mom.

Karen Bixby
Karen Bixby
loading...

Interested in helping Maralee collect soda tabs to benefit the Ronald McDonald House? You can take what you have or what you collect and drop them off in the lobbies of CR Weeks Elementary and/or Windsor Middle School.

More From 98.1 The Hawk