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'The Can Man' has collected 15 million pop tabs and isn't stopping

He's collected 15 million pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana: Meet Larry 'The Can Man' VanNess.

 

Larry "The Can Man" VanNess smiles for a photo at his Anderson, Ind. home, Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. The 70-year-old Anderson man began collecting tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana in 2003 and is working on his 16th million. He has collected many pop tab bracelets over the years.

ANDERSON, Ind. — It started with a dare.

When an Anderson family challenged Larry VanNess to collect 1 million pop tabs for charity in 2003, they had no idea what they had started.

“We were talking right here,” VanNess said, standing in Shadyside Park, just across from the home he’s occupied for 37 years.

“We got to talking about their kids who were in Riley, and they were staying at the Ronald McDonald House,” VanNess explained. “Right here is where I got dared to get a million.”

VanNess completed the task, but 1 million tabs weren’t enough to quench the self-proclaimed “taboholic’s” thirst. Now, 14 years later, VanNess is working toward collecting his 16th million. 

At its annual holiday open house recently, The Ronald McDonald House at Riley Children’s Hospital awarded VanNess with a plaque to recognize his 15th million tab.

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“Those tabs pay for parents to be there at the Ronald McDonald House so they can be right with their kids,” VanNess said. “I don’t want them to be without their parents, that’s why I do it.”  

On a typical day in Anderson, VanNess can be seen out and about scavenging cans and bottles he'll recycle, only of course, after harvesting the pop tabs. VanNess says everyone knows "The Can Man."

“If they don’t, they’re new in town,” VanNess laughed.

The effort stretches farther than “The Can Man” though. Local businesses keep collection jars near their cash registers for him and community members send him tabs in the mail.

Classrooms at Shadyside Elementary compete to collect the most tabs, pointing and waving when "The Can Man" makes an appearance to pick them up.

A group of local women has started a Facebook page for VanNess, which has racked up more than 1,500 likes. Raina Rigney, an assistant manager at Old National Bank in Anderson, helps run the Facebook page and receives tabs in the mail for VanNess.

Larry "The Can Man" VanNess collects pop tabs from Brandy Pruitt at a diner in Anderson, Ind., Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. The 70-year-old Anderson man began collecting tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana in 2003 and is working on his 16th million. Many businesses and people in Anderson and across the state give tabs to VanNess to help his cause. "It's not just one person, it's a family," VanNess said.

“If I don’t see him, I worry because I’m so used to seeing him every day,” Raina said. “People bring tabs in here because they know he’s going to come in.”

For VanNess, his work has taken on greater personal meaning over the years. He says counting tabs, often tens of thousands in a day, keeps his mind sharp.

“I’m 70 years old. I’ll be 71 in February, but I still got it,” VanNess said with a big smile. “Keeps me going, like the Energizer Bunny.”

VanNess overcame a troubled past of homelessness and later alcoholism before he found his love for helping others.

“Doing this has saved my life. Guarantee it has,” VanNess said. “This is what’s keeping me alive.”

So when will “The Can Man” retire?

“Not until I’m 6 feet under,” VanNess said, standing outside the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis, proudly holding his plaque.

“That’s what I’m supposed to be doing, I know that. Helping people.”