Who knew keeping aluminum out of our landfills could be so lucrative?  Our can recycling program has raised $50,000 in four years.

Frank Helander and Larry Lee, both retired Hanover County residents, are the driving force behind our can recycling program.  At least one full day a week both Larry and Frank are out picking up cans in the community, sorting scrap metal, or loading our can trailer full of aluminum ready to be recycled.  It's dirty, but very lucrative work - they raised $18,000 just last year, and $50,000 over the past four years!  All of the proceeds from the can recycling program go towards building homes for deserving families in Hanover County.

Owens & Minor of Mechanicsville helped out in a huge way when they donated a 14-foot box truck to the recycling program.  We are now able to pick up cans at least twice a week and haul loads to be sold at least once a month.

Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation partners with Hanover Habitat for Humanity and provides a bonus for each pound of aluminum recycled, helping us make more on each pound of metal we keep out of our landfills.

Habitat also collects steel, scrap metal, and now cardboard and white office paper!  We are already well on our way to meeting our goal of raising $20,000 this year.  Interested in helping out??  Businesses, social groups, and transfer stations can request a can collection box to collect cans in.  Our volunteers pick up the bags of cans whenever the can collection unit is full, and store them until we have a large enough load to sell to Stratton Metals.

Every three weeks or so, Frank and Larry load up the can truck and haul off a load, returning with a check that is one more step toward our goal of eradicating substandard housing in Hanover County.