Grand Total....

8/20/12 

I know we just went to the recycling center last week (read about it HERE and HERE), but we needed to go AGAIN! 

So we packed up the cans at the house and from the Cans4Christ trailer, and once again found we ran out of room in the back of the truck! Several bags had to be placed inside the cab--this is good and bad news! Good: We are getting lots of donations; Bad: sometimes we get a nasty smell that lingers in the truck:)  

Here are the bags that were in the truck! HOOOOORAY for so many:) 

We didn't have time to crush these cans before turning them in; so I thought our recycled pound total would be small. But I was WRONG!!! 

Total recycled today: 111 pounds!!!!!!!

That makes a grand total for Cans4Christ as of 8/20/12....

1092 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all who have donated to Cans4Christ! Keep up the great work!!!! 

Revisit

8/17/12 continued

On this trip, Trav and I decided to revisit our largest collection from the woods (see THIS post for details). My fingers were crossed--I was secretly hoping that there were twice the amount as before.

Unfortunately, this area was overgrown and only had one can. That's a huge difference from 584! Either way, it makes a difference for Christ:)

He's Back!!!!!!!!

8/17/12 

It has been FOREVER since Trav has been able to go canning with me! I am soooooooo excited that I get to shout--HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it was literally like he never took a break. Trav got on the bike and started looking for cans--going to the "ends of the Earth" to get each one! We laugh about this saying, but it's true! We go into the brush and woods, bending down and crawling into spaces, getting scratched and bug bites--all for ONE can:) 

Lately, it's been raining. So several cans are hard to reach! I took some pics of Trav debating on how to get a can! 

On our ride, we rode past a friends' NEW house!! I can't wait for them to move here so we all can go canning together! 

I had a great time riding around today--we might not have collected many cans....but I spent time with my FAVORITE person (and Co-Founder of Cans4Christ)!!! <3

Bags: 1

Miles: 5.75

Thursday Regular Route Fun

8/16/12

Thursday means Regular Route as well!! Cans4Christ Canning President, Kates, and I decided to go around our neighborhood and clean up the area. There wasn't much liter, which is good and bad news. Good: our neighborhood is clean; Bad: there weren't many cans to collect! LOL!

We did get a bag of cans while out and about. Here's a pic of Kates coming out of the woods--I believe she found a can there! 

"Good eye, Kates! You are CANTASTIC:)"

We continued with our regular route once we finished on our bikes. We had a good time trying to find one of our new friend's houses--the week before, Tami and I forgot to write down the address due to the rain (click HERE for the post)! We also gained ANOTHER donation for our pick-ups!! This is AWESOME! 

Bags: 1 with all of our regular pick-ups

Miles: 2.09 on the bike; about 15 in the truck

Regular Route With Extras:)

8/13/12 

Monday means Regular Route!! Today we added another Cans4Christ crew member--it was Helene's first time canning:) 

We had a GREAT pick-up of cans!! We passed out some THANK YOU cards and even had someone come out from their house asking for a prayer request!!! **We add "Please let us know if you need anything or if you have a prayer request." at the bottom of the Thank You card. This was our FIRST request! It's exciting to see where God leads us and how He uses our canning ministry!!! 

After our route, Kates, Helene, and I decided to have a gathering. You see-- our husbands were together in a media meeting at church. So we put together a dinner (hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, chips and beans, and drinks!!)!!! 

Apparently Olsen wanted in on this meal:)

Funny thing is....we waited and waited for our husbands! The meeting ran long. Here's the pic I took and texted to Trav so that it would make the guys get home quicker:) 

Miles: the usual for Monday Regular Route
Bags: TONS
Extra: good times with friends, good food, and a prayer request:) 

Our Excitement :)

8/16/12 

Travis and I started Cans4Christ back in March (see our first post HERE). We have enjoyed writing about our journey as we collect cans for our church's building campaign.

We get SUPER excited when the following happens: 

• When we find LOTS of cans on our biking adventures
• When a friend/neighbor/family member says that we can collect their cans weekly
• When we finish a "canning party"
• When we get comments on our blog posts (it means someone is really reading about our adventures!)
• and When we see the numbers of pageviews for our blog GROW!!!!! 

We see the following picture when we log on to our blog-- it's the blog overview. Basically it shows pageviews, top traffic sources, comments, and more stats. Look at how many pageviews we've had on August 10th!!!

77!!!!!! I wonder what that post was about--whatever it was, it must have been interesting:)

So THANK YOU so much for visiting our blog! We appreciate you letting us share our story and God's LOVE!!!!!!!  

Donations from Afar

8/12/12 

We are so thankful for our friends, family, neighbors, and church members who have donated cans to help our church building fund!!! 

We are also thankful for the donations from FAR AWAY! We have family members that live in Panama City, FL. They brought a bag of cans for Cans4Christ on their last trip down!!! 

These pics are not the greatest--it was dusk and I only had my iphone!

This is def. my fav pic of my Brother-In-Law!! 

Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all who have donated to Cans4Christ!

Calling All Friends!!!!!!!!!!

Do you collect cans? Do you follow the Cans4Christ's blog? Do you attend First Alliance Church in Port Charlotte, FL? 

Then we want YOU!!!!!!

Photo Credit

We would love to feature you and your family on our blog! 

Travis and I {and the entire "Canning Crew"} love sharing our pictures of our adventures collecting cans and biking. But we think this blog is more then just about us-- you help us collect too!! 

So take some pictures of your family or yourself collecting cans, crushing cans, or dropping off cans at the C4C trailer and send them to {Cans4Christ at gmail dot com}. 

**Please include: names of all people in the picture, explain what you were doing and how much fun it was, and your email address.

photo credit

I cannot wait to see all of your pictures! This is OUR blog--so start sending in your photos!!! 

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

8/11/12 continued

It's off to the recycling center we go....AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

We weren't done with our trip to the recycling center! We had only recycled the cans and bags that were stored at our house. The Cans4Christ trailer had not been unloaded that week!

I was extremely excited about visiting the trailer because it would be the first time we used our NEW broom {see THIS post for details}!! 

My excitement quickly faded and turned to fear-- I felt something on my leg, and when I saw this little critter, I screamed! 

We loaded everything up and headed back to the recycling center. 

No bags or cans were lost during this trip!

Total for this trip: 38 pounds!!!!!!!! 
Total recycled on 8/11: 268 pounds!!! HOOOOOOOORAY! 

Thank you to all who have helped collect and donate cans for Cans4Christ!!! 

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

8/11/12

...It's off to the recycling center we go:)

This wasn't a small load!! We filled the entire back of the truck...

 

and put five more bags inside the cab because we ran out of room! 

This was not a good idea--it caused a bad odor to linger inside the truck! LOL!

On our way to the recycling center, we had a couple of casualties. We thought we had put the straps over/on the bags tightly....but the largest bag fell off on a BUSY road (not even a mile from our house!)!

We recovered the bag and made sure the straps were tight or so we thought! We continued on our trip, and on Highway 41 (another SUPER BUSY road) we lost ANOTHER bag!!! 

See that little black dot??? That's our bag! LOL!

We pulled off, retrieved the bag, and placed it inside the truck (to ensure it wouldn't fall off again!). While we were readjusting the straps and bags, a white van pulled up and asked us if we needed help. We told the driver no/thank you and what we were doing. He was excited about our efforts to share the good news! He also gave us several "tracks" about Jesus and our salvation. 

We decided at this point that we needed to drive under the speed limit!! It took us a lot longer to get to the center; however, everybody and every bag made it safely;)

During this drive/adventure, I actually texted the "Canning Crew" asking for guesses on how many pounds of cans we took in. Here are the guesses: 

Kates: 2 million.... just kidding, 200

Trav: 150

Me: 180

Jared: 10 :)

I couldn't believe it when we got the final count--just look at all those bags!!! 

TOTAL::: 230!!!!!! Praise the Lord:) **Looks like Kates wins!!! 

Don't Forget

Don't forget to drop off your cans at the Cans4Christ trailer!!!!!!!!!

The trailer is usually open (as seen in the picture above) every Sunday.

You can also drop off your cans throughout the week. The trailer has a small opening for drop-offs and donations! 

Location: First Alliance Church 20444 Midway Blvd. Port Charlotte, FL **our trailer can be found at the back of the parking lot near the playground and clothes donation bin.

Please email us if you have any questions or comments: Cans4Christ at gmail dot com

Thursday Route Continued

8/10/12

Our Thursday night regular route wasn't completed last night due to the rain. So Olsen and I headed out this morning to collect. Look at what we got from the rest of our route!!! 

You might not be able to see in the pic, but the truck bed is FULL! There are cans in bins, bags, and even just thrown in the back of the truck! HOOOOOOOOOORAY:)

Miles: about 12
Cans/Bags: full truck bed:)

Rain or Shine Again--LOTS of pics and fun

8/9/12

It was pretty sunny when we started our canning tonight! I started off by myself-- I headed out to give two of our neighbors some Thank You cards that the crew made {see THIS post for details}. While out on my bike, I saw a penny in the middle of the road! I definitely stopped because that is another way I collect for the First Alliance Church building campaign--if I see money on the ground (in the parking lot, on a sidewalk, in the middle of the road), I pick it up and save it for the building fund! 

This penny isn't worth much, but imagine how much it is worth when collected over 3 years!! 

Then, Canning Princess Tami and I headed out on our bikes trying to find new friends who would donate their cans on a weekly basis. We found SOOOO many new friends! At one stop we had a bit of fun and laugh because the plastic bag broke! 

And here's a picture of Tami getting a can I totally didn't see! I was on a mission and forgot to look for cans in the grass! LOL!

In the middle of our canning ride, Trav met up with us and gathered all the cans we already had collected. This was a HUGE help since we were running out of space on our bikes to carry these bags. 

I've said it before--but we always have fun while canning/biking! Tonight's fun happened when we met the cutest little pup, Lucy! She was lose and her owners were trying to get her back. I stopped my bike and grabbed her collar, but she wiggled out of it! So we followed her towards the busy road and called her back. I ended up grabbing her and carrying her back to her owner. He was thankful and even offered her to me:) I would have taken her home if I wasn't canning! I might have to stop back by and adopt her!! **NOTE:: I don't have a picture of this event! We were calling Lucy and laughing so much that we forgot! 

Right after that, I found ANOTHER full can!!! It looks empty, but it is full! Maybe this can can replace the one Olsen busted {read about that HERE}. 

All through our ride, we heard thunder, but the sky looked sunny and happy! Except for one cloud--it was grey. At one of our pick-ups, we saw lightening and heard bigger rolls of thunder---time to go HOME!! I thought we could make it home before anything started, but a half a mile away from our home, it started to POUR down huge rain drops, which felt like bullets or nails on our skin!

Not sure you can see the rain in this pic, but I took this as it started to rain. We could actually see it coming down before we started to get rained on! And there's a rainbow--right above the trees. 

Here's a pic of Tami and I in the garage waiting for the rain to let up! It didn't!

Miles: 7.12

Bags: at least 6!!! 

Rain or Shine

8/6/12

I have to say that the Cans4Christ "canning crew" is pretty dedicated! Each member goes to extreme lengths to get cans in the woods, while biking, or even on our regular routes. This group will "can" RAIN OR SHINE!!!

And rain it did! Tonight we had thunderstorms and lightening!!! That's scary! I was only going to get the cans from some of our regulars....but the group ended up going on the entire route because Jared and Swisher (Kate/Jared's dog) had never been on our Monday route. It was definitely a fun time with three adults and a medium sized dog in a Jeep Liberty that was full of cans and bins from a previous pick-up-- all of this in the downpour!! 

Doesn't it look like they are having fun?? If you look closely behind Jared's head, the cans in the back almost hit the ceiling of the vehicle!! 

Newest "canning crew" member: Swisher 

A Small Accident

8/4/12 continued

Do you remember THIS post where Trav talked about his collection of full cans that we had found out and about while canning? 

Well, in that post it says that he stores them in the garage on top of my teaching filing cabinet. 

This cabinet is pretty heavy (I've kept some of my teaching ideas/books/etc. just in case I ever need them again), and I usually hook Olsen to it when we are working in the garage or having a "canning/crushing party" (this way he is involved too!). 

Not such a good idea tonight! Olsen must have seen something and jerked towards it causing the entire cabinet to move about 5 inches. This move was just enough to make three of the FULL cans fall! Two fell into a trash can and one busted--spraying old beer EVERYWHERE! All over our new carpet, on the walls, in my water/refreshment!! It was the grossest smell ever! EVER!!!!!!!!

Can Storage and a Party

8/4/12

Well, I think it's time we share where we store the bags of cans....

I'm a neat freak (I learned this from my dad, and we kept the house ultra clean [with lots of help from my mom when we were kids])! And for some unknown reason, I'm OK with having tons of bags in our yard/driveway. God is good:)

The bags you see are uncrushed. So a "crushing party" or "canning party" was definitely needed tonight! We crushed and then had a fabulous dinner and some YUMMY strawberry cupcakes (made by Kates). This party was extra special since it was a day before my birthday. SUPER fun night of canning, crushing, and partying! 

I'm laughing because Jared and Kates were singing the birthday song to me--something I'm not used to! Plus, Jared's version was a bit funny and off key! LOL!

I am so lucky--Jared and Kates are GREAT friends:) 

Miles: none... but....

Cans crushed: a MILLION!!!!!! (it felt like that! LOL!)

New Territory With LOTS of Treasure

8/2/12

We are at it again---biking and canning! Kates and I decided to hit some new territory before we collected from our Thursday regular route. 

This new territory was a HUGE success! We traveled down one street and found so many cans alongside the road. Our first large collection, our treasure, was found in this wooded area. We saw a can, stopped, and I yelled out our "canning motto catchphrase": Where there is one can.....there are ________ more! **Fill in the blank with how many more cans there are:) In this spot--we found 29 +1 cans! So a total of 30!!! We also found a mattress and a shoe. Unfortunately, we can't recycle those:)

You can see several cans just laying there in this wooded area!! SUPER treasure:)

 Our second large collection was found near a culvert. We saw some white bags in some overgrown plants--this is when I told Kates about how Trav and I found 63 in some trash bags once (click HERE for that post). I also told her about how I dance in the street if we find large numbers like that:) We tore through the bags and found 59 +2 cans!!! A total of 61 cans! HOOOOOOORAY!

Here's a pic of the white trash bags--you never know what you'll find, but it's worth looking;)

We also found a vacuum and Christmas tree near a trash can on this one street! There's always something fun happening on our rides! 

After an hour on this street, we agreeed to head home (plus, we ran out of bags!!). On our way home, we found another friend that has given us permission to collect weekly!!! We also found a yellow broom (that almost looks brand new!)!!! This is our new C4C trailer broom (our other one broke--read about this broom HERE). SOOOOOOO exciting!  Again--we always find something fun and have a blast while canning/riding!

Miles: 10.37
Bags: 5 and a broom