Thousands of empty cans & bottles donated to help local non-profits

You wouldn't want to waste your time trying to count the number of bottles and cans inside of plastic bags outside Lindale Mall on Saturday afternoon. It may take you years.

Since the state of Iowa is not currently accepting can redemption returns, two local non-profit organizations decided to use that opportunity to help raise funds.

“Small things matter," said Maurice Davis, the founder of FIED (Financial Education and Interpersonal Development).

"If we think about a can, it is only worth five cents, but if I can fill a trailer full of cans, that's a lot of five cents and it really adds up.”

FIED helps fund scholarships for underprivileged students for post-high school education that's not university-bound.

“We're looking at helping out the students that want to do things like go to hair school, that want to go to Kirkwood for carpentry certificate. Those things where there's not really a great resource for them to be able to pay for those things but they still cost money and sometimes that can be a barrier," Davis said.

FEID partnered with the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival who will share the proceeds that will come from thousands of empty cans that will later be turned into the Can Shed.

“What I see is an opportunity for a young man or young woman to get those new clippers that they need or to get that hammer that just might be slightly outside their reach and could be the reason why they decided they were going to not go to school," Davis said.

Can Shed provided an empty trailer that volunteers were filling up consistently from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. From the get-go, it was a steady pace of cars throughout the afternoon all coming to donate.

For more information on the two local non-profit organizations, their websites have been provided below.

FIED

Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival