Milwaukee woman's 'can-do' attitude leads to $55,000 for charity

Published: 2005-12-27

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Imagine how many lives have been touched because a group of students was perched on a hillside near Milwaukee's Marquette University nearly 20 years ago drinking soda and beer, littering the area with their cans. Ruth Hana spotted the 40 or so cans on her way back from the bank. Seeing the glittering aluminum tossed onto the grass ignited an idea for the Gesu parishioner who at the time worked for Milwaukee County. The cans translated into dollars for Hana, who recognized that the aluminum could be recycled and the money given to charity. The students' discarded cans were the first of 764,000 aluminum cans that Hana has collected over the past two decades, with more than $11,000 going to charity. In all, thanks to other money-raising ventures conceived by Hana, including a popcorn sale to co-workers, she has donated $55,774.55 to charities, including the American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross and about 15 other charities.

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