We have all wanted at one time or another to make our lives count, to truly make a difference.
In Anderson, 69-year-old Larry Van Ness is doing just that.
"Twenty years he's been coming here," said Tammy Merrill from Arab Termite Control.
Van Ness has been walking 5-10 miles a day, every day, making the same stops.
"When we don't see him, then we worry. Has something happened? Is he sick or something?" Merrill said.
"We had a really big office fire in 2003 and Larry is the guy who called it in for us and probably saved the day. So that is my favorite Larry story," Mesha McCarty from State Farm Insurance said.
But there are so many.
"You guys are in for an adventure," another woman observed at yet another stop.
There is a method to this madness, because Van Ness picks up pop can tabs at every stop. You see, someone dared him to collect a million tabs - so he did.
Eleven times.
"That's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine million. Ten, eleven. I keep every millionth tab. 11 million tabs," Van Ness said as he showed us his collection that is framed and mounted on his wall.
"I'm a tabaholic now, instead of an alcoholic. A tabaholic. I was a drunk. I was homeless since I was 16," he continued.
From an alcoholic to a taboholic.
"How did you come out the other side," asked Eyewitness News reporter Kevin Rader.
"I wanted to live," he answered.
"We started filling up your can for you," Doris Seleyman from North Anderson Flea Market exclaimed.
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"I didn't see that," Larry answered.
"I know you didn't see that," Doris responded.
"I can't believe that. That is cool," Larry said as he looked over a can that had his picture and favorite saying on it.
"I put your picture on it," Doris said as she showed him.
"That is neat. I didn't know you had that," Larry noted.
Now many of the businesses on his walk are in lockstep with him. Some give him small bags and others trash bags - all full of tabs.
"He is pretty well-known in Anderson," Raina Rigney of Old National Bank shared as he strolled into her bank.
"Not too many people would take the time out of their day to do the things he does," she added.
"It's all about the kids. The Can Man can," Larry answered.
"We need more Larrys," Rigney continued.
There is something heartwarming about a man who, homeless as a teenager, now works so hard to make sure others have a home when they need it most.
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"I get a prize just seeing how some of the kids at Ronald McDonald House get to see their parents and know we are helping to pay for moms to be there when they can't get a hotel. That is worth more than money. I don't care what you say," Larry said to Dr. Val Scott, principal of Eastside Elementary in Anderson.
The kids at Eastside Elementary collected 284,000 tabs for the Can Man last year.
"Right now, we are at 111,000 and then this box," Dr. Scott told Larry.
"There is 30,000 I know. I know there is 30," Larry responded.
The children at Eastside all know his name.
"Larry the Can Man," two students exclaimed as Van Ness walked in the school's hallway.
"I told you," Van Ness proudly observed.
All his work is not going unnoticed.
Larry may be sitting in the small apartment in Anderson where he has lived for 35 years now, counting tabs, but a proclamation from the governor hangs on his wall and a sign hangs just above all the tabs collected in the entire state at the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis.
"It just took off, I guess," Larry said.
"Now you are 'Larry the Can Man'," Rader said.
"Yep. The Can Man can. Remember that," he replied.
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What does he get out of all this? His reward comes from noon to 1 and 4-5 pm.
"There she is! She waved. Hey!" Larry said excitedly.
That is when he stands on the 1100 Block of Broadway and just waves.
People on his route count on Larry being there, waving as they drive by.
"Like they told you, they worry if I'm sick or something. If I am not out here, they worry, because I am out here every day. Even on weekends," he said.
The drivers honk and wave as they drive by and whether they know it or not, they make Larry's day.
"See? I still got it. Can't give it away, but I got it, dad gum it!" Larry proudly proclaims.
The Can Man still can.
The pop tab program has generated $800,000 since it's inception in 1995 and no one has raised more money than the Can Man. He has personally raised over $6,000 for the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis - proof that the "the Can Man can" make a difference and truly has.
