Collecting 150,000 pop tabs for charity last year just wasn’t enough, as NIU now aims to raise 1 million.

The pop tabs, which will be collected throughout the year, will be sent to the Ronald McDonald House, which recycles the tabs to pay for its charity: housing families for children in hospitals. Destiny McDonald, Student Involvement and Leadership Development assistant director for Community Service, said the collection of tabs is part of the Huskies Can Make a Difference campaign.

“Huskies can make a difference,” McDonald said. “We worked with the departments [and] students and put up fliers to advertise the collecting of the pop tabs.”

Participants were able to gather more than 150,000 tabs last year. This year, SILD’s Community Service branch built red boxes in front of New Hall and inside the Cardio Rec Center where students can donate the tabs.

Freshman undecided major Abigail Coronel said she’s noticed the red boxes inside the Recreation Center but never had any pop tabs to donate.

“It’s smart to have these boxes, but do people really have pop tabs on them when they come to the Rec Center?” she said.

Liz McAllister, SILD’s community service graduate assistant, pitched the idea of helping the charity.

“I really wanted to ignite the campus service and keep students conscious throughout the year,” McAllister said.

McAllister said sororities, fraternities and student organizations were contacted to help collect the pop tabs.

“The goal is to reach 1 million pop tabs, and we appreciate the students who have donated,” McAllister said. “It’s for a really good cause.”