TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Vigo County CASA has exceeded expectations for its can donation effort and announced Monday that the Sugar Creek Salvage facility is at capacity and no more cans are able to be donated for this year.

According to a release from Vigo County CASA Director Glenna Cheesman, it took the community around three months to donate the needed volume of cans. 

“We are saddened that we have to stop, but we are also excited that we reached and have possibly surpassed the goal already with what started July 10 of this year and here we are October 30; three months later. We are so thankful to Matt and Elise and their awesome staff at Sugar Creek and the work and time they have given to this project for us and the community outpour to help,” Cheesman said. 

The owners of the Sugar Creek facility, Matt & Elise Hagdoran, commented on the generosity of the community. 

“There has to be over a million cans. We currently have 2, 30-yard metal containers full and more on the ground! It is exciting to see the generosity of the community, but now the processing has to begin. Which involves opening and sorting all the cans so that they can be properly prepared to be shipped out and the check can be given to CASA by the end of the year,” Matt Hagdoran said. 

Cheesman noted that CASA will organize the can donation event again in 2024 with a few changes.

The release from Cheeseman asks that no more donations be made to the Sugar Creek Salvage facility in 2023, but says CASA has several other businesses in the area that are participating and currently collecting. To find out more information about the can donation program, or other collection facilities, check out the Vigo County CASA Facebook page.

“When this was developed, we didn’t know exactly what to expect as we were going into this with truly an “unknown outcome”. As normal Wabash Valley has stepped up and showed their support for the children in our community one can at a time and we are just truly amazed and blessed with such a community outpouring of cans,” Cheesman said. 

After the Sugar Creek Salvage facility announced that it had reached capacity with the volume of donated cans, another local recycling facility, Mervis Recycling, stepped in to participate.

“We are excited to announce we have a location to take cans to. The can collections will continue! While Sugar Creek continues to work through the mountains of cans and process. Mervis Recycling has jumped in to help out and be the next location for drop-off. Just tell them you are donating to CASA and they will take care of the rest.” said Glenna Cheesman, the director of Vigo County CASA.

Mervis Recycling is located at 1350 College Avenue in Terre Haute. Their hours are  8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and they are also open from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every third Saturday of the month.