Clubhouse

Teen has ‘pull’ in world of fundraising

“Pull Tab Princess” lacks the panache of “Duchess of York” or “Baroness of Edinburgh,” but Jenna Dunbar likes the title just the same. Dunbar, a junior at West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, earned the designation recently for collecting almost 1.5 million aluminum pull tabs as a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House. Kiwanis clubs helped.

Jenna Dunbar (left) hugs her mother, Karin Dunbar, after thanking her for her help and support in collecting more than 1 million pull tabs. (Photo credit: Ingrid Lindemann, The Spokesman-Review)

“Let’s just say that there’s a special person in my life who has had to use the Ronald McDonald House,” Dunbar told The Spokesman-Review. “When I saw what they were able to do there to help families when they really need help, I wanted to do something.

“I figured that since I couldn’t help with the illness, I could at least help families be able to stay near their children when they really need to.”

When hearing of Dunbar’s undertaking, Spokane’s Kiwanis clubs offered to help. West Valley, Spokane Kiwanians, for example, already had experience saving pull tabs. The club presented the Ronald McDonald House a check for US$400 in 2004 after collecting 1 million tabs over a four-year period.

Dunbar’s 1-million-tab mark was set earlier this year, and the Kiwanis clubs staged a dinner this past June to celebrate. Dunbar had collected more than 1.4 million tabs by the time of the dinner, and has since raised her goal to 2.8 million tabs—the number it takes to weigh a ton.