YATES CENTER — For the past four months, Jim Frye has collected aluminum cans with zeal.
Seven days a week (weather permitting) Frye is darting about to and fro.
His personal can drive will benefit local veterans, explained Frye, who served the Navy in his younger years until he was felled by a back injury.
Frye plans to take the cans — 22,000 and counting — to a recycling center in January, then donate the proceeds to the Woodson County American Legion post.
A gift card in the amount of the monetary donation will then be handed over to a local veteran to help with food, clothing or household item purchases.
The recipient will not be chosen until the money is donated, Frye said.
“We’re really hoping the price of aluminum rebounds between now and then,” he said, noting he’s found centers buying cans between 37 to 56 cents a pound.
Frye estimates his collection weighs around 1,100 pounds.
“I’ve walked pretty much every country road around here,” he said.
Frye also canvasses a number of local businesses, including some in Iola — his home for more than 35 years until moving to Yates Center in 2013 with his wife, Durenda.
“We’ll stop by any place that still sells canned drinks” Durenda added.
Yates Center City Council members allow Frye to store his can collection beneath the city’s old football stadium. A city staffer also printed up flyers to be posted around town.
“We’ve gotten quite a few people who bring cans to me, too,” he said. “They’ll bring big sacks, little sacks. It’s all appreciated. Even one can.”
The Fryes operated Great Discoveries for years until retirement beckoned, and they moved to Yates Center.
The idea for the can drive came “about 2 in the morning, when I was lying in bed,” he said.
THE EFFORT has provided some ancillary benefits.
