Aluminum tabs help Shriners care for kids

by Staff Pioneer Times
8 years ago

By Paula Brewer

Staff Writer

SH BUCUBBY 35 16 18535831Staff Photo/Paula Brewer
Local Anah Temple Shriners visited The Cubby Thriftstore in Presque Isle recently to collect over 70 pounds of aluminum tabs donated by customers throughout the year. The tabs are sold for recycling, with the money benefiting patients at Shriners Hospitals. With some of the donation are, from left, Cindy Johnson, president of The Cubby; Caleb “Cubby” Johnson; Tom Fitzherbert, president of the Aroostook Shrine Club; and Anah Temple Past Potentate Dick Hallett.  
 

PRESQUE ISLE — From the tiny piece of aluminum atop a soda can can come many good things, and patrons of the four Cubby Thriftstores in Aroostook County know this well.

The stores in Caribou, Madawaska, Presque Isle and Houlton collect those little aluminum tabs throughout the year from customers, said Cubby owner and president Cindy Johnson. The Shriners accept them, take them for recycling, and the money goes toward care for the young patients at Shriners Hospitals — something to which Johnson and her family have a big connection.

The Johnsons’ son, Caleb, 18, travels regularly down to West Springfield, Mass., for a checkup at the Shriners Hospital there, where he has had years of care. Caleb, whose nickname is “Cubby”, has a condition in which tumors grow on his nerves. He was the inspiration behind The Cubby Thriftstores and the Cubby Gives program, which work to benefit families of children with life-threatening illnesses.

When he makes the trip, his mother said, Caleb delivers the year’s donations of aluminum tabs. The Cubby stores have collected the tabs since 2011.

This year was a bit different — in a good way.

“He’s doing so well, he goes every other year now,” Johnson reported. So, happy to help out, the Shriners came to Caleb.

Representatives of the Aroostook Shrine Club visited The Cubby’s Presque Isle store one recent afternoon to collect those aluminum tabs — all 70-some pounds of them.

“We take them to Bangor and sell them,” said Anah Temple Past Potentate Dick Hallett. “All the money is used for patients at the [Shriners] hospitals, for medical equipment, toys for the kids — anything to benefit their stay.”

In The Cubby’s six-year history, the organization has seen its Caribou location grow to four stores serving a large part of Aroostook County.

Cindy Johnson couldn’t be happier with the stores’ successes because of the benefits they provide to others dealing with situations similar to her own family’s. But one thing remains clear: “Caleb is the heart behind the store,” she said.