The Kan Man can

If you didn’t know Gordon Christensen, you might assume he was an elderly pensioner who’s come upon hard times. Why else, on the coldest day of the year, would he be rummaging through garbage bins and plucking out aluminum cans, if not to scrounge up a little extra dough to make ends meet? You’d only be partly right. As the logo on Christensen’s white sweatshirt reads, he is the “Kan Man: Improving Children’s lives one can at a time.” So far, he’s raised over $2,000 for students at the Stanford Home for Children, all from recycling discarded aluminum cans. It’s not easy, or glamorous. Sometimes it plain stinks. But that is the way of the Kan Man.

How did you become Kan Man?

Four years ago, when I got diabetes, the doctor told me that I had to walk three miles a day. So I started collecting cans over in the park. The guys were playing baseball over there and drinking beers and throwing their cans in the garbage. I thought, “Look at all those cans,” you know. They don’t have recycling bins out there. So I got this grabber thing and started picking them up.

That’s when you started to think about helping kids?

Yeah. First I collected about $30 worth. But I never used any of the money. I told my wife I was going to take that money and pool it and find the most needy kids in Sacramento, find out what they need, go buy it for them and deliver it to them.

After two and a half years of collecting cans, I had about $1000 worth.

So I called the Salvation Army and they told me that Stanford Home was in need really bad.

I called Stanford home and they told me they need supplies for their school. Many of them come from homes where they were abused, or they were mistreated or their father’s in jail. When these kids go to school and they do really well then they give them coupons to go to the store and buy things. But they need school supplies.

Then from this past August to November I got another $1000. People started to call me and I get cans from them, people bring me cans. So now I have a lot of different places where I can get cans. It’s worked out pretty well.

Why do you do this?

I just wanted to give back, you know. I’m retired now. God has given me a good life. So I decided it’s time to give back to someone else.

We’ve got too many kids that need help. There are too many out there that don’t have anything. Hey, I got nothing else to do anyway. It’s a good pastime. I enjoy doing it.

I’ve been retired for about 15 years now. Now all I do is get cans for the kids and that kind of stuff. The other day I took a whole big bag of stuffed animals over to the Shriners’ Hospital. A lot of those kids go through a lot of misery with the surgery and stuff. You know how kids are with the little stuffed animals. It makes them feel a lot better.

I go out to garage sales and get a real good buy, and then I’ll take the stuff and have another garage sale at my house and take that money and give it to the kids.

One of the teachers told me, “These kids, they think you’re an angel.” And I said “Why?” And she says, “Nobody ever helps them.” So it makes me feel good that I’m doing something for somebody else.

Is there competition for cans?

I see these people out here who collect cans and it’s just because they’re greedy. They take all that money and they spend it on themselves. They don’t need the money.

Like homeless people?

No, no, no. That’s different. I mean like people you see over at Fair Oaks Park that live in big fancy homes, they collect cans. But they do it just for themselves. I just figure if you’ve got it all why not take something and give it to somebody that really needs it.

I don’t need the money. I’ve got rental properties and everything.

You ever think about helping other groups?

Yeah, but I won’t donate anything to anybody that doesn’t have to do with kids. That’s what the whole thing is about for me. Kids. One hundred percent goes to the kids. I buy my own gas. I provide the labor. I buy my own bags. All of that comes out of my own personal money. Then the money for every can I collect goes to kids.

You have kids of your own?

I have 12 grandkids. They’re all from good families, they have everything they need. Grandma and Grandpa are always buying them something. We get about seven of them every weekend. We just have them over to the house. Or we go to McDonald’s or to get pizza. It’s their day. My wife and I started that when they were little, you know. We feel like our grandkids need to know each other. And the best way to get them to know each other is to get them together every week. That way, when they grow up they’ll have a bond with each other. It makes for a stronger family.

How much time do you put in?

Anywhere from one hour to three hours a day. Every day. In the winter it’s a little slower. People don’t drink as much beer and soda. It takes a little bit of time. There’s a lot of wear and tear on the truck.

It’s a messy job.

Oh yeah, and stinky. And there’s stuff in here that can hurt you. That’s why I got this grabber. I don’t ever just stick my hand in there. You go in the park over there. I went in the park one time and saw where there was four needles laying in there. I said uh-unh, I ain’t messing with that.