Bottle It Up!

Matthew was a student at the Daisy Ingraham Elementary School in Westbrook. While in the 4th grade, Matthew lost his much adored teacher to cancer. When she passed, it was very hard for Matthew to understand and grieve. Matthew’s mom suggested he have something positive come from something so sad and together they came up with Bottle It Up! And that is how it all began…

It started at home with family and friends collecting .05-cent eligible bottles and cans, making the redemptions and collecting the receipts, watching it add up. Matthew’s brothers, Andrew and James became quickly involved helping collect bottle, cans and promoting the Bottle It Up! message and goal. The word spread to Matthew’s current middle school and his brothers continued Matthew’s work at Daisy Ingraham School. Within a few months, parents, administrators, teachers and High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center joined in to help raise awareness of our program and as a result lead to us collecting even more bottles and cans. The motto Matthew created, Bottle It Up! “Let’s put a cap on cancer, and find a cure!” was spreading quickly.

Matthew, Andrew and James have chosen to donate the funds collected to the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Oncology Department and Smilow Cancer Hospital to help with cancer research.

Recently, Bottle It Up! presented both Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and Smilow Canter Hospital with checks totaling $15,5000.00 bringing their total gifts to the hospitals to $34,000.00.