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Resident Spotlight: Giving Back With Dolores Karp

Dolores Karp pop tabs Moorings of Arlington Heights

If giving back to your community is something you’d like to do more of, look no further than one resident of The Moorings of Arlington Heights for inspiration. For more than 40 years, Dolores Karp has collected pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House, and recently made a 49-pound donation, which equals more than 62,000 pop tabs! Senior Living News proudly profiled her latest donation, as well as her personal backstory. 

A history of making an impact

Dolores is gregarious, articulate and humble. She shares her upbringing as the youngest child of an immigrant family from Poland and the poverty she experienced as a child. Those experiences framed her desire to find a way to give back. She impresses everyone who meets her with her easy nature and care for others. And she loves calling The Moorings of Arlington Heights her home. 

Her donation story began in 1981, when she had recently added an in-ground swimming pool to her home. Naturally, people loved coming over to swim, and Dolores attached a container to an umbrella pole insisting people deposit their pop tabs. 

Before long, people would show up at her front door with bags of pop tabs. She connected with a friend from church who suggested donating them to Ronald McDonald House in Oakbrook. Instantly, she was hooked on making these donations. 

delores karp pop tab donation

 

“I was such a fanatic, I’d stop on the street and pull pop tabs off of cans I saw in the garbage or recycling!” shares Dolores.  

Making donations a community effort  

Today, Dolores continues to collect pop tabs at her senior living community, The Moorings of Arlington Heights. She proudly talks about the local children and families that benefit from Ronald McDonald House charities and plans to always give back to them. 

Beyond Dolores’s personal commitment to giving back, The Moorings of Arlington Heights has a strong commitment to social responsibility. As a not-for-profit community, we are guided by a strong mission and put people before profits. Instead of pleasing stockholders, our board of directors and employees focus on pleasing residents. In addition, any proceeds not needed for expenses are reinvested in the community.

Where residents connect for the greater good 

The Moorings of Arlington Heights is a Life Plan Community (also known as a CCRC) in the Chicago suburbs. That means you can keep enjoying your active, independent lifestyle without worrying about the upkeep of your apartment or villa – and without worrying about finding a higher level of care if you need it. Learn more about our community, or schedule a tour to see for yourself why people like Dolores love living a meaningful life here.