How these brothers from Baysville, Ont., are making a difference by crushing cans

Brothers crushing $100K goal to help others These brothers are crushing their goal of raising $100,000 to help locals in need.

Bruce and Douglas Thomas are making a difference in their community one can at a time.

"We know there are people in our village and beyond our village, and they need a little bit of support. And that's what it's all about," said 75-year-old Bruce Thomas.

The brothers from Baysville, Ont., are collecting and crushing cans to turn them into funds to help people facing hard times.

The Rainbow Fund, as they call it, started in 2014 and has raised over $94,200 to date.

The brothers are hoping to reach their goal of $100,000 this year.

"It really does your heart good to know that you've been able to help somebody, even though we don't really realize it until the need itself arrives," said 77-year-old Douglas Thomas. "It's just a really a good, good feeling."

Money collected by the Rainbow Fund goes into a church-controlled account with the Bethune United Church in Baysville.

"Wherever there is a need that's identified, then the church is at the ready with the Rainbow Fund to help those people who have a need," Bruce added.

The brothers collect cans and wine bottles from various sources, including residences, breweries, and rejected cans from Gravenhurst, Lake of Bays, and Huntsville.

They have categories for cans and bottles and separate them based on whether they have printed or plastic labels or no lids.

"I think we can say we spend three hours each day, and it has been that way all the way along, but there is a lot of fun in it," Bruce said.

The brothers take the cans with printed labels to the beer store, while the cans with plastic labels and no lids go to the recyclers in Port Sydney. The money derived from scrap aluminum can fluctuate, but the duo collects and crushes all of the cans in their workshop to save on trips to the recyclers.

Bruce has even been known to snow blow the neighbour's driveways in exchange for Rainbow Fund donations.