[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6900-S6901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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     TRIBUTE TO THE MILFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL FIFTH-GRADE STUDENTS FOR 
                    SUPPORTING THE SHRINERS HOSPITAL

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
80 fifth-grade students in Pam Moreau's math classes at Milford Middle 
School in New Hampshire. Pam and her students organized an elaborate 
recycling system and donated 80,000 metal pull-tabs from soft drink 
cans to the Shriners hospital in Springfield, MA. The Shriners Hospital 
sells the tabs and uses the money to buy medical and nonmedical 
supplies for the hospital's burn victims and orthopaedic patients, all 
of whom are children. I congratulate the Milford students who worked 
for so many months to collect and recycle the tabs.
  These 80 fifth-graders and the 80,000 tabs they collected are an 
example of the type of goodwill exemplified all across the country for 
the Shriners hospital. The Shriners hospital in Massachusetts is one of 
22 Shriner hospitals in the United States that provides high-quality 
medical care absolutely free of charge. The Shriners hospital network 
is the only hospital system in the Nation that provides 100-percent 
charitable care, accepting no government or insurance reimbursement for 
treating hundreds of thousands of children. The only way the Shriners 
are able to help so many young patients is due to the generous support 
of the American people like the Milford fifth-graders.
  Since 1922, when the first Shriner hospital was founded, the Shriner 
hospital network has helped over 500,000 children. Last year, the 
hospitals treated close to 20,000 orthopaedic cases and conducted over 
200,000 outpatient and outreach clinic visits.
  Money raised from the tabs collected by the Milford students will 
help pay for x-ray film, children's books, and VCR tapes for the 
patients at the Springfield Shriners Hospital. This hospital and other 
Shriner hospitals make the largest single contribution on a continuing 
basis to the care of disabled children in the United States.
  I have always been impressed with the number of children the Shriners 
hospital helps each year and have worked with them over the years to 
promote and assist their efforts. I am particularly pleased that a 
group of young students in New Hampshire worked so diligently to 
contribute to this outstanding institution. These young fifth-graders 
will help make a difference in the lives of the sick and disabled 
children at the Shriners hospital. They should be very proud of their 
volunteer effort.
  Mr. President, I ask that this recently published article from the 
Telegraph describing the students' hard work be inserted into the 
Record.

[[Page S6901]]

                          [From the Telegraph]

                Project Has Kids Pulling for Other Kids

       Fifth-graders in Pam Moreau's math classes are getting a 
     lesson in numbers while helping other kids.
       About 80 pupils at the Milford Middle School in New 
     Hampshire began collecting metal pull-tabs from soft drink 
     cans last fall and donating them to the Shriners Hospital in 
     Springfield, Mass., which treats orthopaedic patients; other 
     Shriners Hospitals, such as one in Boston, treat child burns 
     patients.
       The hospital sells the tabs to an aluminum recycler and 
     uses the money to purchase a variety of medical and 
     nonmedical items, from X-ray film to children's books and VCR 
     tapes patients use during their hospitalization.
       As of mid-April, the Milford pupils had collected about 
     80,000 of the small metal objects--an average of 1,000 per 
     pupil. The dollar value of their efforts is estimated to be 
     $130, so far [price fluctuates daily].
       ``It's a project we got started for the fun of it . . . but 
     the kids come in with thousands each week,'' said Moreau, who 
     added they might expand the effort to include more pupils 
     next year.
       Many pupils involve their parents, aunts, and uncles in 
     their collecting, said Moreau. One girl made a bin for 
     employees at her father's workplace to donate the tabs. Each 
     month, Moreau gives out a small prize to the pupils who 
     collect the most.
       She said their collecting efforts have translated well in 
     the math classes--pupils keep track of their collecting by 
     plotting numbers on graphs. They deposit them into empty 
     five-gallon water bottles, and have filled about five since 
     they began.
       It has also spawned a sense of recycling, which for many 
     Milford residents is already the norm. But she said pupils 
     have taken to checking the family garbage and picking up cans 
     littering local parks.
       Moreau said she learned about the fund-raising project 
     through a friend who saves the tabs and gives them to Chief 
     Grayden, a Nashua Shriner active in Shriners Hospitals. 
     Grayden regularly drives local patients to their treatments 
     in Boston or Springfield, and he brings the tabs to 
     Springfield when he has a bunch.
       Moreau said they kicked off the volunteer effort by 
     inviting Grayden in to speak about how collecting them would 
     help other kids. Since then, pupils have been unstoppable.
       ``It's kids helping kids,'' she said. ``Even though they 
     never have met these kids, they think it's great to be 
     helping out.''

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