ROCHESTER, Minn. - The donation left staff at the Ronald McDonald House speechless. The gesture of donating three million pop tabs was three decades in the making, and Jim Spinler said it's simply about thinking of others. 

"If everybody thought about doing something else besides for themselves the world would be a lot better,” he said.

When you pop the tab on your favorite cold beverage there is one way you can make a difference. The Ronald McDonald House collects the tabs in exchange for cash at the local recycling center.

The tabs from a can of are worth more than metal to The Ronald McDonald House.

“We collect them and that those to the recycling center and in return we are given some funds for the volume of that aluminum,” said Executive Director Peggy Elliott.

Spinler brought in quite the load of tabs. He made the journey from Medford to The Ronald McDonald House in the heart of the Med city to drop off a large crate of pop tabs. Inside the crate was over three million tabs.

Spinler collected these tabs for more than 30 years with the goal to help families in need.

“I'm happy that I can do this, that's the main thing," Spinler said.

This large donation left the staff speechless.

“Overwhelmed. I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude for what Jim has done,” said Elliott.