Ding, ding, ding!! This week, peer Kaylon Holt achieved an unusual milestone. As we’ve informed you all along the way, Kaylon has been collecting soda pop tops for close to three years now. The aluminum tabs can be redeemed for cash, but Kaylon wasn’t interested in personal gain. Instead, he began this endeavor as a fund-raising effort for a friend’s father, who was ill with cancer. After his death, Kaylon decided to broaden his efforts, selecting the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus, Georgia for its efforts on behalf of families of critically ill children. 

Kaylon has received assistance from a wide variety of community resources, including Perry Wellness Center peers and staff, nursing students at Georgia Southwestern State University, Southland Academy Students, and merchants ranging from a local McDonalds to Dent Hardware in Buena Vista.

The community-wide undertaking has paid off. We are proud to announce that Kaylon has just hit the 1,000,000 pop top collection goal that he set for himself. What an amazing achievement!

“This effort that Kaylon began in 2014 has been a great public relations effort for Perry Wellness Center, Ronald McDonald House, and for Kaylon and his friends and family,” says PWC founder and CEO Stuart Perry. “I am proud of Kaylon!”

Kaylon is grateful for the assistance he has received and is planning to post “thank you” posters throughout the collection area, which includes Americus, Ellaville, and Buena Vista. He also has a message for our readers: “I really do appreciate all the help that I have received. Please don’t stop. Ronald McDonald House needs us each day.”

In the photo above, Kaylon Holt stands in Perry Wellness Center’s Hope Park, displaying a “thank you” poster. Our thanks to YOU, Kaylon, for your community-spirited efforts!