Cans 4 A Cause

10/12/2026

Southington, CT - Cans-4-A-Cause has come to the rescue of a local Marine in need of some help. Frank Russo joined the Marines in 1991 just after the Gulf War began. He wanted to join a helicopter unit but was stationed with an artillery battalion in Okinawa and the Philippines.

Frank suffers from Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy and had a heart transplant. He was a handyman himself, so I’m sure this is hard for him because he knows how to do everything that people are doing for him today. When he and his wife Lori bought the house he was still in pretty good health ... and is now not able to do much of anything. Over the past couple of years, many organizations have helped him including House of Heroes and Cans-4-A-Cause.

Soon, Frank will be confined to a wheelchair. He would have been confined to his house because the door leading out to the deck was constrictive and would not allow him to turn around. The VA will be providing a ramp to get up to the deck, but they wouldn’t modify the deck so he would be able to turn around and get in. Cans-4-A-Cause stepped in and working together with AGP Construction of Meriden, expanded the deck so he will be able to get the wheelchair up to the deck and turn around to get onto the door. When Frank is ready, the VA will install the ramp.

Cans-4-A-Cause is a local all-volunteer non-profit that collects unwanted returnable bottles and cans. They then use the proceeds to help people who are in need of help. Whether it be children needing warm winter clothing (like Warm the Children), a soup kitchen (like Bread for life), a food bank (like Southington Community Service), a victim of Domestic Abuse (thru New Horizon Domestic Abuse) or a veteran who needs a helping hand, they do what we can to help people who need help. Founded in 2018, Cans-4-A-Cause has given back over $185,000 to the community.

09/28/2026

September was a momentous month for us at Cans-4-A-Cause. With this months redemption, we crossed the 3.5 million container mark. You read that right, since we began in 2018, we have redeemed over 3.5 million containers.

I could never imagined that when we began this. And we are going to keep on going!!!!

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09/02/2026

Thank you to Vero Cucino for their donation of b**r bottles today.

https://www.verocucino.com/

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08/31/2026

We usually focus our donations to the Greater Middletown area. One of our regular donors of bottles and cans is Harry's Marine Repair in Westbrook, CT. We felt that we should donate to a program along the CT shoreline. The Shoreline Soup Kitchen was selected as they help people who need help.

Congratulation to Shoreline Soup Kitchen (https://www.shorelinesoupkitchens.org/).

08/09/2026

Every year, we give away ten of thousands of dollars to help people in need. Every now and then, we get a story that really touches my heart. And this is one of those stories.

The Middletown American Legion called me yesterday, they had an area veteran who recently lost his job. Fortunately, he has found a new job and will be starting soon. They have applied for assistance thru the The American Legion Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Fund, but it was going to take a month or so to process. But in the meantime, he had no way to pay his rent this month, so The American Legion called us and asked if we could pay maybe 1/2 months rent. He would work with the landlord to catch up the balance in the coming weeks / months.

Rent is normally not an expense we would cover for a veteran, but this case was compelling so I reached out to our Board of Directors and asked them if we could him out and pay his rent this month. Overwhelmingly, they said YES and I called the American Legion this morning and told them the good news. They were ecstatic, they gave me the information and the check is in the mail.

I want to say a big thank you to those who drop off their bottles and cans at Two Herons Farm in Portland. Without your support (and others we collect from), we could not have helped this Veteran.

07/20/2026

Today, Cans-4-A-Cause donated $1,000 of gift cards to New Horizons. They will be handed out to their clients to help them buy cloths, food and household items.

New Horizons is a program to help Victims of Domestic Abuse. They help around 1,000 people a year.

Thank you !!!!

06/18/2026

Greetings !!! As many of you know, I run “Cans-4-A-Cause”. We collect unwanted returnable bottles and cans, redeem them and put the money back into the local community. As we prepare to start our 9th year, we have been able to give back over $175,000 and we aren’t done yet.

We are a registered non-profit and we are all volunteers. Nobody takes a salary or stipend. Over the life of the program, that has allowed us to put back over 95 cents of every dollar we get back, into the community.

While it is rewarding, it is not without its challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the amount of garbage we collect. Things like empty detergent bottles, empty dog food cans, non-returnable bottles and cans, and my favorite – a full 1.75L bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch.

There is a lot of confusion these days as to what does and what does not have a CT Bottle Deposit. Each state includes different items and different rates.

Here are some of the things that are NOT covered under the CT Deposit Law:

1.) Vodka, Gin and Tequila Drinks. Drinks that DO NOT have a deposit include:
High Noon, Sun Cruiser, Kirkland Vodka & Soda, Cutwater Drinks (White Russian, Mango Margarita and so on), NUTRL, Long Drinks, and Hive Tequila drinks.

2.) Gallon Water Bottles – any non-carbonated beverage over 2.5 liters is exempt from the law. Carbonated beverage over 3 liters is also excluded.

3.) Milk Containers

4.) W**e Bottles – regardless of size. Maine has a 15-cent deposit but not in CT.

5.) Protein drinks like Premium, Nurri, Core Power 24 and Fairlife.

6.) Hard Ciders like 1741 by Lyman Orchards and DownEast.

7.) Nips – Liquor bottles 50 mil and less. They have a 5-cent environmental fee that is given back to the towns to help pay for environmental programs.

We thank all that have supported this program and we are looking forward to the future !

05/10/2026

This week, we here at Cans-4-A-Cause had the privilege of presenting Warm the Children with a check for $1,800. Webster Bank and The Travelers Championship matched the donation with a 15% kicker, bring the total to $2,070. That is enough to cover the needs of 23 children in our community.

Unfortunately, that is only a drop in the bucket for what they need, each winter, they help provide warm winter clothing to close to 500 area children.

But hey, helping 23 children is better than none. It continues to amaze me what good we can do with the unwanted returnable bottles and cans that we collect each week.

Thank you !!!!