"Children Aiding the Needy" Earthquake Relief!

I went out yesterday and picked up cans and bottles and trash for my class's C.A.N. project. We're raising money to support communities that were devastated by the earthquake in Peru this past August.

Mei-Mei and I picked up in the woods behind ONE dormitory at the college in town. In about an hour, we gathered an astounding 60 cans, 69 bottles, and 36 pieces of miscellaneous trash!

Here's how the project works:

• My students and I go out and ask our friends and families to sponsor us in our roadside cleanup sessions. For example, a sponsor might pledge to give us one cent, or five cents, or ten cents for each recyclable can or bottle we pick up. (We pick up miscellaneous trash, too, but that doesn't really count toward our pledged total.)
• We total up our collections, and then collect the pledges from our sponsors.
• We also try to redeem the cans and bottles at a recycler in a state with a bottle bill. (Get with it, New Hampshire!)
• ALL the money we raise goes to to a Peruvian relief effort in Chincha Alta, Peru (near the epicenter).

It's been a lot of fun to watch the small pledges add up. The kids see how lots of five-cent-per-can pledges can quickly become $1 or more per can or bottle!

Hey, that means in a couple hours of my walking and crunching, we raised over $100 of earthquake relief money yesterday?!?

AND the town got a little cleaner, and some more aluminum and plastic will get recycled?

I LOVE this kind of project!

(If you'd like to support us, please email me at my work address: mbennett@hopkintonind.org ... We're looking for donations at the following per-can levels: 1 cent / 5 cents / 10 cents / 25 cents)