One Man, 100,000 Cans, 19 New Smiles

The first amazing thing about 84-year-old George Ouellette of Chelmsford, Mass., is that he walks for six or seven hours every day in parks, fields, roadsides and wherever else his feet take him. Winter doesn't stop him; he dons flannel-lined jeans and sets off in the snow, according to a story by Operation Smile.

The second amazing thing about this guy is that on these walks he collects so many discarded cans and bottles that he pulls in up to $250 a day after redeeming them for five cents each.

No, he's not an enterprising hobo, but a spry philanthropist. Every time he redeems a load of cans, he writes a check for the full amount to Operation Smile, an organization that treats children with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities around the world.

The last can-based philanthropist I wrote about, Phoebe Russell, is 5. Despite being 79 years older, Ouellette has a lot in common with the little girl who raised enough money to feed 18,000 needy people through a can-collection project. Both use big hearts and small, unwanted objects to do a tremendous amount of good.

Ouellette, for his part, has raised $4,440 for Operation Smile by collecting more than 100,000 cans since 2005, enough to pay for 19 surgeries. He was motivated to start the project by a television show about Operation Smile, which reported, to Ouellette's amazement, that each surgery can be done for only $240.

At first, he was afraid people would think he was a vagrant, but he was spurred on by the thought of the good he could do, and he now has a stable of supporters who save their cans for him. He's a regular at the recycling center, where the employees take his word for the number of cans he's brought.

His 90-year-old wife gives him a vote of confidence by serving as his bookkeeper, and his eldest daughter, Sue Ouellette, recognizes that the project does him as much good as it does his beneficiaries. “The work of Operation Smile struck a chord in my dad," she is quoted in Operation Smile's news piece. "He decided that this would be his job -- his purpose.”

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng