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116 Comments
- quomen, on 10/12/2007, -40/+127I don't want to get down on what she did,
but during those thirty years, couldnt she have
just gotten a job? Sorry i'm not a cynic,
her work is astounding and it's touching to see
someone achieve something like that. - allaboutdatiki, on 10/12/2007, -8/+67"Can by can, year after year, she earned $73,000 and received a matching grant to raise the rest. "
How much did she spend on gas? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+61So, how much does each can bring in Vs the gas money spent driving the roads looking for the cans in the first place.
- Visk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+56For a second, I thought quomen was writing a poem.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+50much respect to her =]
- goodbeershow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+46All the kids she knew when she started the project are all grown up and have kids of their own. Pretty weird.
- notmiya, on 10/12/2007, -5/+42Dude she's 83, don't you think a person in their 50's has a family of her own to support? How can you criticize a good deed?
- Blandyman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32Are you inbred?
She started at 53. Dumbass. - captainpete, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33The bums in my city do that with just a shopping cart. I'd like to see a face-off.
- kidmaninwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26dugg for her effort
- ericnmu, on 10/12/2007, -9/+34Not a very efficient way of raising money....
- rockforever, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26Thing is, picking up cans of the side of the road is good in its own right. Your reducing litter and making your community more beautiful. Then she goes one step further and puts all that litter to good use? This woman is both hero and legend.
- TBobes, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24She didn't spend very much on gas at all. Lets see... We will average the price of gas to be $2.00 for the past thirty years. Lets say her truck gets 20 mpg. She drove 40 miles once a month for 30 years.
2 x 2 x 12 x 30 = 1440
She only spent $1440 for gas, and raised a total of $7256. Not bad for an old women. Some say that she should have gotten a job, but she probably had one, and this was a little thing to do on one weekend every month. She is also saving the environment which is always a plus. Now she is on digg, and is receiving donations from all the people visiting the donation page. Props to her! - triscuitbiscuit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Even though all you are commenting on how much of a waste of time it was/inefficient, I definitely think tha the most powerful lesson that comes out of this is how just one person has the power to affect a large group of people. And that person doesn't need to be all powerful- all they need is a large dose of human will.
- cdharrison, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Can't someone do something positive for once without the legions of diggtards cracking jokes? She's an 83 year old woman who gave enough of a damn to do something that might make a difference in other people's lives.
- metafore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17yeah, stop being douche bags. job or not, she was out doing something good for the community. it'd be one thing if we were out over achieving and then being cynical, but we're not. if you've got time to argue that on any website, you're not qualified for the over achieving category. and yeah, i know, i'm not doing much either, but i'm digging the story.
text of story:
"An 83-year-old Kansas woman spent 30 years driving open roads, picking up aluminum cans, in a single-handed effort to raise enough money to build a community swimming pool for the children in her home town of Eskridge. For more than three decades, Maisie DeVore gathered and delivered cans, scrap metal and car parts to a recycling facility. Can by can, year after year, she earned $73,000 and received a matching grant to raise the rest. Says Maisie, "If you really want something and pursue it with all your mind, you'll get it done one way or another." Here's a video featuring her and the pick-up truck, and that Kansas can-do attitude... (1:51)
The pool shimmers across the street from Maisie’s home, having been completed on July 14, 2001. You may have seen the event on CBS's Sunday Morning featuring a parade that attracted more than 1,000 people. As her dream project was consecrated with a ceremony, Maisie took the first step into the completed pool. Since that day, the summer attendance has averaged about 100 people a day"
don't be a ballache. digg this old lady. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+23what i wonder is if she spent more on gas than she recovered from the cans
- thatbox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16also thirty years
(aluminum cans too) - kitwaites, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15You retard. Firstly, it's a woman.
Secondly, how on earth could she raise $73,000 (around £38,000) if each can was only worth £0.001? By collecting 38,000,000 cans over 30 years? That's more than 2 cans per minute for every single minute of those 30 years.
Thirdly, she collected ALUMINIUM cans. Baked beans come in TIN cans. The clue is in the name.
Never ever post again. - Smeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I admire her because she wanted to give the kids in her town a pool that she stuck with her plan for 30 years. Who gives a crap how she did it, I bet she would have jumped on any opportunity to make money faster and Im sure she didnt make the money exclusively with cans. If you listened, the population of her town is damn small. There arent a lot of opportunities there.
If you do the math, picking up cans once a month for 30 years is 360 days. I would like to see anyone on digg commit a years worth of their life to something they felt was important and still feel the same way at the end. - popltree2, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Props to this young lady who saw something that the community needed and did something about it. Granted it took her 30 years, but still...
- noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10All of my unfunny jokes aside, it's really nice to see someone doing something creative to help her community. Where I come from, people just throw money on things and expect ***** to happen.
It's nice to see this on digg. - noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I think it has something to do with quarks and string theory. Don't you watch NOVA, you jackass!?!?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13she should have done this in germany, where the refunds on most glass bottles can be almost 10x highehr than the usa (it promotes reusing/recycling there)
- jgrgg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8for all of u wondering how much the gas would cost just do the math
40mile trip=about 2 gallons (prolly 3 in that truck)
on average 900lbs a month at 34 cents a pound is way more than the cost of gas
even when she was just starting at 5 cents a pound thats $450.
much more than the cost of gas - noormuhammad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9well, either this story is true or not but i really love her consistency towards goal. and i wud like to quote her wordings “If you really want something and pursue it with all your mind, you’ll get it done one way or another". Stories like this should motivate us to adopt such good qualities in our life.
stay beautiful,
noor muhammad - Ocelot13, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12if shes 83 now, and it took 30, that wouldve made her 53 when she started. i could be wrong, but 53 isnt exactly young to my standards. to me, young is like 0 - 25. but i could be wrong
- TBobes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7She is a good person. After collecting cans every month for 30 years, would you give all that money away? Yeah, I didn't think so...
- SuburbanDave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Many (not all) on this thread have missed the point entirely. It's not about the ROI of picking up cans. It's about someone stepping up and DOING SOMETHING for the benefit of others. How many of us have lifted a finger in our community? We go to work, we come come home, watch a little TV, spend a few hours plaing WoW, rant a little on Digg, and go to bed. How many of us have so much as given up a few hours on one Saturday afternoon manning the concessions stand at a little league game, let alone given up one Saturday a month for Thirty years for the benefit of the community? I liked bitmanx's comment.. "Anybody here do something for 30 years and complete it? How about 2 weeks?" That's the other part of the story. Her life-long dedication to participate.
It's not about the cans.
It's about dedication. It's about selflessness. It's about committed service to humanity. It's about not just having an address where you park your car in a particular town, but being a part of your community.
Don't know where to start?
Odds are your town or one near by has one of the following.
Park District
Recreation Center
Rotary Club
Lions Club
Kiwanis
Jaycees
Masonic Lodge
Elks Lodge
Moose Logde
Eagles club
Boy/Girl Scouts
Red Cross
etc... etc...
The world needs more people like this woman. - theg58, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8God damned,
I thought she built a swimming pool with cans!
I was so excited to see that...
but guess I was wrong... - captainpete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Probably in her swimming pool
- redfox2600, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5+1 Dgg, we need more people like her in this world.
- FIAR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"This woman is no hero, she is an eco-villain."
She only drove 40 miles/month. All of you tards asking about how much gas she used, probably about the same amount many people use in a single day driving to and from work. How many of you drive that far in just one or two days to and from work? My guess would be a majority? Now, how many of you bother to pick up the trash on the side of the road as you do it?
*Crickets*
Thought so. STFU. - SEmmert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I was born in Eskridge! My parents were friends with this lady while she was doing this project. Take it from someone who has had her fair share of living in various small towns around Kansas (thank goodness I've been small town free for ten years!): efforts like this are greatly appreciated and needed. The nearest swimming pool was most likely way too far away to be worth driving to, and it's always nice for children to have a place to play rather than on rusty playgrounds and rickety barns. This probably was not the most efficient way for her to go about raising money, but how often does someone put their heart into something like this and actually stick with it long enough to achieve their goal? What a sweet lady. I wish there were more people like her in this world.
- TBobes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@kitwaites and fLUx1337
"Maisie DeVore, gathered and deliver cans, scrap metal and car parts to a recycling facility."
She didn't do this with just cans. If she did this with just cans, she would have had to get around 26,000 cans every month. Not that unbelievable if you did it everyday, but she only did this once a month, and it is very doubtful that this could be done in a weekend. Anyway, you should read the article. My guess is she just did an adopt-a-highway type program, and just picked up all the garbage on the side of the highway, and recycled the the metal parts. A few hours of work for an extra chunk of change, and a healthier environment doesn't sound too bad to me! - bitmanx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The story is about determination and effort, key facts lacking from the homeless people and half the idiots who posted something negative about her effort. She did the best she could and made something happen which is probably lot more than most of us have done. Anybody here do something for 30 years and complete it? How about 2 weeks? If not shut the hell up if you don't have anything positive to offer.. I'm sure those kids think she's a hero and will remember that for there entire life..
- jongarber, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Aah, here we go! With a video too.
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/content/view/1824/35/ - wildrices, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It would be nice to have more positive people in a Digg. This person did a positive thing. What have you done ?
- Vazel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I hope I'm still young at 30 if you don't mind.
- Mr.Chainsaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I know my grandad collected cans and saved the money for the local ping pong tourneys. I always wondered why. I mean he was retired, and had lots of moola.
I realized though that he was doing a good deed to keep busy and still feel like he was a part of the community. Old people don't have much to do after retirement people. Praise them for what they have done and what they are doing now. - kevintmckay, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Imagine if she just staid at home and saved her gas money for 30 years she could have built a gymnasium by now
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5at least she is also helping keep the roads clean in the process
- Cornedbeef, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Not a bad gift for a Kansas town with a population of just under 600 people.
- ihaveworms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I see someone saying why didn't she get a job. Well, maybe she would have made more money that way, but think how much she helped the environment just picking up all those cans and recycling them.
- demonotaku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey *****, you don't know that she was driving constantly. Maybe she parked her car, walked for a while, and then drove it again. Ever think of that? No, I bet you didn't. Be happy someone did something productve instead of sitting on their ass bitching about ***** on the internet.
- diggduggjoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The grant money came from a state program from what I can tell, the Local Government Outdoor Recreational Grant program is a Kansas program. So, after 30 years, she was able to convince the state to hold up the rest of the state for the remaining funds. It is a community of what? 500? I am just glad it was not federal funds or I would have paid for it, too! If, the community really wanted it, where was everyone else? No one in town was a contractor and could have done the excavation for free or at a reduced cost?
I credit the woman for her determination. However, that town should have been able to do it by working together instead of stealing cash from state residents and having a poor woman spend tons of money driving around collecting cans. That is America for you! Sit on your butt and have someone else pay for your goodies. - Blandyman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4... oh well?
I'm sorry for homeless people, for the ones who end up there for a legitimate reason (eviction on unfair basis, loss of job, etc.), but the ones who end up there for being alcoholics, or drug addicts, or just plain lazy?
Get a job, freeloader! - zerotothe5th, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's amazing how after reading everyone here starts pointing out all the flaws and being negative. Dugg for being a very touching story. I think it's an amazing story! Great job to her!
- hbeierg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@noseeme
I watch NOVA
and to do with the story. I live in Kansas and Eskridge is small for small towns, less than half a square mile small - greatpaimei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2OK... just to clarify since this isn't the first time this has been said. While Kansas has homeless people, they're not nearly as widespread as other places and they're certainly no where near Eskridge.
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