Third grade students at St. Patrick Catholic School collected and donated more than 10 pounds of aluminum pull-tabs to the Five Cities Optimist Club to be given to the Ronald McDonald House to raise money for childhood cancer research.

Debi Dykzeul, a faculty member at St. Patrick School, as well as a Five Cities Optimist Club representative, presented the students’ pull-tabs to the Pacific Southwest District of Optimist International.

All pull-tabs will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). The aluminum tabs are melted down and the money raised from selling the aluminum goes toward cancer research.

Collecting pull-tabs teaches kids about philanthropy and the importance of recycling while raising money to help children and their families, said school officials.

The Pacific Southwest District of the Optimist Club is one of three Southern California-based branches of Optimist International. The goal of Optimist International is to conduct positive service projects aimed at providing a helping hand to youth. Donating pull tabs to the RMHC is just one of the many service projects that the Pacific Southwest District participates in.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities provides financial and emotional support to families of sick children. RMHC currently has chapters in 63 countries and regions worldwide, providing services such as grants to non-profit organizations that benefit children and scholarships to students.

For more information on St. Patrick School, call (805) 489-1210 or visit

www.stpatschoolag.com. For more information, on RMHC, visit www.rmhc.org.