Some people are described as looking like a million bucks.
Larry Van Ness / Larry "The CanMan" Van Ness of Anderson, Indiana might be described as looking like 20,000,000 pop tabs and counting these days, as something very special happened on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 1:58 PM, Anderson time.
When you click on the something very special happened hyperlink in the previous paragraph, scroll down to see what I wrote. Then, click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of the picture to see what Rachel wrote.
Below, find a picture of Larry at Anderson Speedway showing off his 20,000,000th tab later that night.
On Tuesday, July 9, Larry and Rachel went down to Ronald McDonald House to drop off all of the tabs he has counted since the last time he was down there to drop off tabs, and he definitely had a whole bunch.
Check out these heartwarming pictures where you can tell that Larry really enjoys doing this.
Below, find a picture of one of the families who are being served by the Ronald McDonald House where the tabs that Larry counts go: This One located next door to Riley Hospital For Children in Indianapolis.
Larry and some of the staff out in front of Ronald McDonald House...
Getting his latest total recorded...
This is what the records looked like with Larry's July 9 visit...
A page from Larry's own records that will give you an idea of how thorough he is. He says that, if he's going to be getting credit for donating so many tabs, he wants to make sure that there are that many tabs and not just an estimate by weight. He also wants to make sure that they're all aluminum (which is the only thing used by RMH in their tab-collecting campaign), so he goes over each one with a magnet to test them (non-aluminum ones will be picked up by the magnet).
When Larry began counting tabs back in 2003 (at the request of friends with a child in the hospital), he was planning on just counting a million and quitting. He had no idea that he'd still be counting 16 years later and would be counting this many.
He began doing this alone, but, after people found out what he was up to, they began to bring their tabs to him. He still goes out and collects his own, but he now has lots of help in getting them, so his main role is being the one to count them and get them to RMH.
He's quick to remind everybody that it isn't him doing this alone, and he considers everybody helping him with this ongoing mission to be part of a very special family.
Here's the next big event. Here's hoping to be there and hope you will be, too, if you're in the area. Larry is going to be getting extra-special recognition for counting his 20,000,000th tab!!!
He even has a new haircut for the occasion! Doesn't he look fetching!?!
Be sure to click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of this pic to read what Rachel wrote about Larry's arrival in Indy. It will melt your heart!!!
Larry actually has his suitcase packed several days in advance from when he leaves for these special trips to Indy with part of the contents of his suitcase being packed even WEEKS before he leaves -- so, do you think he's excited or not!?!
Larry has the mission of collecting tabs for our local Ronald McDonald House, but there are other Ronald McDonald Houses with their own campaigns. Below find more about one of the people who does this and who got to meet Larry last year.
Giving a special shout-out to a lady named Jaz who has become buddies with Larry's buddy, Rachel.
More pictures and info about Jaz...
Brenna and her family aren't among those who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House, but I'm including her story as a very remarkable young lady whose life was interrupted by leukemia during her senior year of high school.
I have also made another blog-entry here about her that also includes, among the other shout-outs, a shout-out to Larry.
I'm going to finish this with the story about another special young lady.
Don't forget to click on the [ f ] to read more than what's showing up here -- which is a great idea for ANY embedded items like this one that I post here...
While Larry's enjoying all of the positive attention, awards, etc. he's been getting -- and is still a bit baffled by at times -- he says that this has never been what it's about for him. It's about the kids -- plain and simple -- and he's just one person out of many who have made this possible.
I love this video of him that was made in the late autumn of 2017 when he was counting towards his 16,000,000th tab. It pretty much says it all, and viewing it will really melt your heart!!!
Please make this blog-entry go viral -- and, if you're close enough to get there, please show up on Friday at Monument Circle and/or drop by his hotel to say "Hi!" -- with or without tabs!!!
Larry Van Ness / Larry "The CanMan" Van Ness of Anderson, Indiana might be described as looking like 20,000,000 pop tabs and counting these days, as something very special happened on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 1:58 PM, Anderson time.
When you click on the something very special happened hyperlink in the previous paragraph, scroll down to see what I wrote. Then, click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of the picture to see what Rachel wrote.
Below, find a picture of Larry at Anderson Speedway showing off his 20,000,000th tab later that night.
On Tuesday, July 9, Larry and Rachel went down to Ronald McDonald House to drop off all of the tabs he has counted since the last time he was down there to drop off tabs, and he definitely had a whole bunch.
Check out these heartwarming pictures where you can tell that Larry really enjoys doing this.
Below, find a picture of one of the families who are being served by the Ronald McDonald House where the tabs that Larry counts go: This One located next door to Riley Hospital For Children in Indianapolis.
Larry and some of the staff out in front of Ronald McDonald House...
Getting his latest total recorded...
This is what the records looked like with Larry's July 9 visit...
A page from Larry's own records that will give you an idea of how thorough he is. He says that, if he's going to be getting credit for donating so many tabs, he wants to make sure that there are that many tabs and not just an estimate by weight. He also wants to make sure that they're all aluminum (which is the only thing used by RMH in their tab-collecting campaign), so he goes over each one with a magnet to test them (non-aluminum ones will be picked up by the magnet).
When Larry began counting tabs back in 2003 (at the request of friends with a child in the hospital), he was planning on just counting a million and quitting. He had no idea that he'd still be counting 16 years later and would be counting this many.
He began doing this alone, but, after people found out what he was up to, they began to bring their tabs to him. He still goes out and collects his own, but he now has lots of help in getting them, so his main role is being the one to count them and get them to RMH.
He's quick to remind everybody that it isn't him doing this alone, and he considers everybody helping him with this ongoing mission to be part of a very special family.
Here's the next big event. Here's hoping to be there and hope you will be, too, if you're in the area. Larry is going to be getting extra-special recognition for counting his 20,000,000th tab!!!
He even has a new haircut for the occasion! Doesn't he look fetching!?!
Be sure to click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of this pic to read what Rachel wrote about Larry's arrival in Indy. It will melt your heart!!!
Larry actually has his suitcase packed several days in advance from when he leaves for these special trips to Indy with part of the contents of his suitcase being packed even WEEKS before he leaves -- so, do you think he's excited or not!?!
Larry has the mission of collecting tabs for our local Ronald McDonald House, but there are other Ronald McDonald Houses with their own campaigns. Below find more about one of the people who does this and who got to meet Larry last year.
Giving a special shout-out to a lady named Jaz who has become buddies with Larry's buddy, Rachel.
More pictures and info about Jaz...
Brenna and her family aren't among those who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House, but I'm including her story as a very remarkable young lady whose life was interrupted by leukemia during her senior year of high school.
I have also made another blog-entry here about her that also includes, among the other shout-outs, a shout-out to Larry.
I'm going to finish this with the story about another special young lady.
Don't forget to click on the [ f ] to read more than what's showing up here -- which is a great idea for ANY embedded items like this one that I post here...
While Larry's enjoying all of the positive attention, awards, etc. he's been getting -- and is still a bit baffled by at times -- he says that this has never been what it's about for him. It's about the kids -- plain and simple -- and he's just one person out of many who have made this possible.
I love this video of him that was made in the late autumn of 2017 when he was counting towards his 16,000,000th tab. It pretty much says it all, and viewing it will really melt your heart!!!
Please make this blog-entry go viral -- and, if you're close enough to get there, please show up on Friday at Monument Circle and/or drop by his hotel to say "Hi!" -- with or without tabs!!!
