Girl Scout Troop #20127 found a program located in Mexico called Banco de Tapitas, where they recycle plastic caps. They make items to sell such as toys, containers, household goods, etc. The money they make is then used to pay for medicines, chemo treatments, wigs, etc for anyone 21 and younger with cancer.
The troop first posted the project on Facebook noting that anyone who wanted to could save plastic bottle caps for the troop.
Next, Tiffanie Sumney asked if they could have a contest with Ada Elementary School K-5 classes, with the class collecting the most getting a pizza party.
Troop leader Patty Griffin remembers, “I said ‘go for it.’ She did and we never expected the huge response that we got. The contest originally was to run until April 8 but with the overwhelming response we had, we decided to cut it short, due to not having enough manpower and trying to figure out how to ship all of these caps.”
The troop had planned on using the profits from cookie sales to pay to ship the caps, but there is no way the troop has enough money to ship all that were collected.
On March 20 the troop cleaned and counted the last of the caps at the Ada School, totalling 374,304. Chamberlain Hill school in Findlay also collected caps and had 34 boxes. Otterbein Nursing home in Cridersville is also collecting caps. The troop will collect those on April 2. Also, Marathon Petroleum in Findlay decided to have their own contest, which will end in a few weeks.
After seeing the number of boxes, Griffin again posted on Facebook, asking for any kind of help getting the caps shipped. The troop will have to ship them by semi truck and each pallet will cost between $180-$200 to ship. An anonymous donor has offered up to $1,000 towards shipping costs.
Corey Henson, owner of EZ Concrete in Lima, offered to have them shipped from his business since we needed pallets and a loading dock. On March 17 the troop delivered boxes filling 4 pallets.
Griffin estimates that another 2-3 pallets were prepared on March 20. Sumney, her husband Brock, her brother and her father along with other family members and some volunteers have spent the last several weekends at the school cleaning and counting plastic caps. On March 20, the Girl Scout troop spent the day helping. Griffin notes, “Tiffanie and Brock deserve all the credit for this as they have spent countless hours on this project.“
If anyone would like to continue to save caps, they may bed mailed directly to the organization: Attn: Banco de Tapitas USA, 4246 N 64th St. Phoenix, Arizona 85033.
