“I am so proud of Kaylon Holt!” says Perry Wellness Center CEO Stuart Perry. He is referencing the fact that the PWC peer has delivered a record-breaking number of redeemable aluminum pop tops to his favorite charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities of West Georgia, Inc., in Columbus, Georgia. For over two years, we have followed the saga of this young man, who began collecting soda can tabs or “pop tops” as a way to raise money for a friend’s father, who was fighting cancer.

Now the scope of his mission has broadened to include the families of seriously ill children throughout the region. The Columbus Ronald McDonald House provides a temporary residence for family members of hospitalized children. Kaylon has promoted his charitable project through a television appearance, appeals to local schools and businesses, and placement of donation boxes throughout Sumter, Marion, and Schley Counties.

Kaylon notes, “If once I had only a few collection sites in these counties, I now have people saving pop tops and bringing them by Perry Wellness Center.”

Almost two weeks ago, Kaylon made his latest delivery to Ronald McDonald House. Along with PWC staff member Mulkey McMichael, he loaded and carried an additional 185,000 pop tops to the Columbus organization. Kaylon also brought a compilation of many of the stories and photos about the project that have appeared on the center’s website, along with a letter from Stuart Perry and a copy of the five Certificates of Appreciation Kaylon has received for his efforts.

In addition to the donated funds which result from the project, Kaylon’s collection effort has raised the profile of pop top donations and created a sense of community partnership between Perry Wellness Center and numerous individuals and organizations.

With the delivery of the latest pop tops collections, Mulkey summarized Kaylon’s contributions to date: “Kaylon now has a total of almost 1.5 MILLION pop tops delivered to Ronald McDonald House.” Now that is a truly impressive feat. Congratulations, Kaylon!

In the above photo, Kaylon Holt presents his commemorative book to (left to right) Tiffany Bamberger, Assistant Director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of West Georgia, Inc. and Morwen Bush, Volunteer Coordinator for the organization.