IJAMSVILLE – When Centerville Elementary kindergarten students are done drinking bottled water, they know what to do.
Recycle the bottle. Save that precious cap.
Centerville lead custodian Kathy Osborne takes care of the rest.
For the last year, Centerville students and staff have been collecting bottle caps for its Caps for Love campaign. After the bottle caps are collected, Osborne sorts through them and sends them to Caps for Love, a Florida-based nonprofit that recycles the caps. With proceeds earned, wheelchairs are donated to students in need.
Last year, Centerville collected 23,000 caps in just nine weeks, enough for the purchase of 23 wheelchairs. The bottle cap collection continues this year.
Osborne said even the youngest Centerville students understand how beneficial a simple recycling decision can be.
“They are really excited about it,” Osborne said. “They have been consistently doing it. They know they are helping other students.”
Currently, Centerville has a huge garbage bag and two buckets full of bottle caps. Third grade students Olivia Culver and Samuel Lee and kindergarten students Riti Roychowdhury, Eliza Fogelson and Zion Sesay had the chance to see the collection this week.
Their eyes widened. They knew what this meant.
It meant their simple service efforts would help a student in another community who desperately needs it. Centerville students are learning in their formative educational years that service matters and lending help for those in need can be done in simple ways.