Mary Stumpp – The Can Lady Project

A few years ago, Mary Stumpp’s eight-year-old neighbor told her that some of his classmates couldn’t afford to attend a field trip. This got Mary thinking about ways to help kids and teachers at Indianapolis public schools get additional funding for much needed classroom supplies and educational materials. She began to notice that not only were there a lot of aluminum cans on the ground and in trashcans that were going in to the landfill, but these aluminum cans could be turned in for cash the local scrap yard. In 2007, Mary started the Can Lady Project to collect discarded cans in schools and around town to raise money for elementary and middle schools in her area. Since they began, the Can Lady Project has diverted over 25,000 lbs of aluminum from the landfill and raised more than $14,000 for Indianapolis Public Schools.