Keeping tabs on a good cause
By Sarah Freedman Contributing Writer

PHOTO/SARAH FREEDMAN Miguel Regalado's fifth-grade class at Marlborough Intermediate Elementary School

Marlborough - Miguel Regalado, a fifth-grader at the Marlborough Intermediate Elementary School (MIES), has been keeping tabs on a good cause: the Shriners Hospital tab drive.

And, thanks to his efforts, thousands of aluminum can tabs will be used to fund the Springfield Shriners Hospital, one of the 18 orthopedic and four burn relief children's hospitals across the country.

On Feb. 11, Miguel presented the tabs he collected to Robert Jessee, Bob Archibald, Alan Archibald and Thomas O'Leary of the Aleppo Shriners in Marlborough, while his classmates watched.

Miguel received a certificate of recognition from both the Aleppo Shriners and Mayor Nancy Stevens, who wished him success in a letter accompanying the certificate. The Shriners thanked all who helped in the drive.

"We appreciate the help everybody here has provided us," Jessee said.

He explained that the Shriners have run the tab program for 17 years, and that each pound contains 1,400 tabs. According to Jessee, 1.6 million pounds of tabs have been collected by the Shriners so far - more than two billion tabs, as a student in the classroom figured out.

Miguel's project began as a simple question to his grandmother about why she saved the tabs from cans and, after the encouragement of his homeroom teacher, who had a cousin treated in a Shriners Hospital, and literary coach Rebecca Zieminski, he turned it into a project that includes the entire school system.

"She [my grandmother] was collecting tabs and she told me, 'Why don't you try it one day?'" Miguel said.

With the help of Zieminski and some of his classmates, he researched the Shriners and made boxes to distribute to schools throughout Marlborough.

Last year, the project began in MIES and included just the cafeteria and classrooms there. Miguel, however, wanted to include more schools and started a letter-writing campaign.

"We wrote letters to all of the principals in Marlborough asking for permission to place collection bins in their schools," Zieminski said. "The High School has been collecting tabs for years, but agreed to send Miguel their tabs … This is a community service learning project that Miguel has nurtured for over a year."

The tabs Miguel helped collect through the use of collection boxes in Kane, Richer and Jaworek Elementary schools, Marlborough Middle School and Marlborough High School, as well as MIES, will be recycled so the Shriners Hospital can buy medical supplies, transportation vehicles and books.

According to the website at www.shrinershq.org, 50 to 70 cents can be made on a pound of tabs.

For the future, Miguel is training his younger brother, Josh, and other fourth-graders about how to check the tab boxes and keep the project going at MIES, as Miguel will be going to the Middle School next year.

His goal is expand his project to local restaurants and businesses and make it citywide.

"Miguel is a special student with a huge heart," Zieminski said. "Not only has he provided an important service to the Shriners, but he has taken responsibility and pride in something really special."

For Miguel, the project is a personal one that involves a lot of teamwork and that he hopes will help more children at Shriners Hospital.

"The kids need a lot of stuff ," he said.

For more information about the Shriners and the can tab drive, visit www.shrinershq. org.