Collecting cans for kids
Happy Valley-goose Bay senior raises money for children’s surgery in developing countries
Quite often, seemingly ordinary moments in life can lead to the greatest inspiration. It was last December that Ed Battcock of Happy Valley-Goose Bay took a routine trip to the post office, which changed his mission in life.
While picking up his mail, the 84-year-old looked at a brochure in his mailbox that touched his heart deeply.
On the front was a picture of a child with a severe cleft palate.
“There was this little fella with a cleft palate, and he was on the side of the road while the other kids were playing,” recalled Battcock. “And it says he can’t play because he has a cleft palate.
“And something struck me about that picture.”
The brochure was from a group called Smile Train — a non-profit organization that collects donations so that children suffering from cleft lips/palates in developing countries can get surgery. Through Smile Train, the surgery costs $250.
Although a cleft lip or palate is not life threatening, it makes eating and speaking very difficult.
Also, the social stigma for children in some developing countries is tremendous. According to the Smile Train website, children born with a cleft lip/palate in Uganda are nicknamed “Ajok” which means, “cursed by God.”
It was the image of these innocent children being isolated without any friends that motivated Battcock to start raising money for the surgeries.
He chose to raise the funds by asking people to give him their recyclables.
With some help from his family, who spread the message around, Battcock now has 54 people who regularly donate their bottles and cans to his cause.
Battcock is a retired insurance agent and is not the type to put his feet up and take it easy. Ever since his retirement, he has tried to keep busy. Until recently he occupied his time by keeping some livestock in his barn.
But he had to give it up due to complications caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
“My breathing is really restricted, especially when I was in the barn where I had chickens and turkeys,” said Battcock. “I had to make a decision this fall that I couldn’t go at it again this year.”
So his fundraising efforts not only help the children with clefts lips/palates, but also give Battcock a strong sense of purpose. He now spends seven days a week either sorting through the mass of recyclables or taking them to the recycling depot, even though his COPD forces him to use a respirator much of the time.
“It’s not too hard,” said Battcock. “If I ever find it too strenuous I lie down for a bit.”
Battcock remembers the first beer bottles he collected that marked the beginning of his mission to help the children. Someone he knew was moving out of an apartment and was leaving behind some empty bottles he didn’t want. So Battcock decided to take them.
“When I added it up, I think there was $10 (worth). I said well, that’s a start.”
Since January, that $10 has become $3,700 — all through recycling cans and bottles. And to date, 14 children from developing countries have received the surgery thanks to Battcock’s contributions.
He recently received pictures from the first two children who received the surgery from his donations. The photographs show the children before and after the surgery.
For Battcock, seeing the difference the surgeries made gave him an overwhelming sense of joy.
“It makes you feel like you’re helping somebody.”