Newton County 4-H'ers recently collected 456 pounds of pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Foundation - earning them top honors in their 39-district competitive area.

Georgia 4-H'ers turned in a total of 13,572 pounds of pop tabs - more than 17 million tiny tabs from aluminum cans - for the Ronald McDonald House on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road in Atlanta.

The house will recycle the tabs to obtain funds for the more than 800 one-night stays for families of children in local children's hospitals.

The service project is part of an annual conference of Junior 4-H'ers in the seventh and eighth grades.

Local 4-H'ers Cati Aevaliotis, Jay Babcock, Katie Johnson, Machonna Jones, Mary Allison Lathem, Destiny McKnight, Chelsee Nabritt, Kayla Nipper, Shelby Pearl and Alexandra Phillips attended the weekend event.

McKnight helped plan and lead the conference through her elected position as Northwest District Junior Board vice president.

Students also walked a mile to kick off the "Walk Georgia" program, painted pet rocks for a children's hospital, wrote letters to soldiers, decorated peach pit ornaments for the Festival of Trees in Atlanta, learned about 4-H portfolios, discussed healthy living, made stress balls, danced, competed in the Clover Olympics and met more than 700 4-H'ers from across the state while staying at Rock Eagle 4-H Center.

Lathem also represented Newton County during the weekend as a singer in the Georgia 4-H performing arts group, Clovers & Company.

The pop tab collection is an ongoing, annual project.

To donate pop tabs or for more information about 4-H, call (770) 784-2010.