The idea to collect can tabs came from a Google search where Gordon found a story about Jace Weber, a 10-year-old boy from Mildmay, Ontario, who holds the Guinness world record for col - lecting 6,227,236 tabs to help buy a wheelchair for a friend. Gordon has 165 collection bucket locations throughout the county, including at businesses, legions, and schools in Mount Brydges, Strathroy, Komoka, Wardsville, Glencoe, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, and Munsee-Delaware Nation. Gordon sells the tabs to London Salvage & Trading Company for scrap metal. The tabs, which are made from pure aluminum, are melted and formed into 90-pound ingots used in manufacturing. Gordon estimates that 2,100 tabs equals approximately one pound. At 30 cents a pound, Gordon will need 10,000 pounds – over 20 million tabs – to reach $3,000. With the community rallying behind him, Gordon is on his way to achieving his goal, with four million tabs collected in his first three months. Gordon has been fundraising for community organizations for over 60 years, beginning when he was 15 by helping his fa - ther sell poppies. He’s been deeply involved in whatever com - munity he’s lived in ever since. These days, Gordon also helps fundraise for the Melbourne Legion and the Strathroy Salvation Army, and every other month, he organizes a special meal for the residents in his seniors’ complex. Gordon will be collecting tabs until fall 2025 and encourages ev - eryone to help. For more information on where to take your tabs, contact Gordon at 226-378-5942 or email tinybeachesboy@live. ca. You can also drop off your collection anywhere you see Gor - don’s buckets.
Buckets of Community Spirit Gordon Robbins, a long-time resident of Melbourne, has become the king of col - lecting can tabs to raise money for MRI accessories to go with the new machine coming to Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital (SMGH). He hopes to collect enough tabs to raise between $2,000 and $5,000 by fall 2025. “I pitched the idea to the Strathroy Mid - dlesex General Hospital Foundation (SMGHF) Board,” explains Gordon. “Since they had funding for the MRI ma - chine already, they suggested raising money for accessories to go with it.”
Those accessories include noise-can- celling headphones to help mitigate the loud banging of the machine as it oper- ates, as well as foam pads that help a patient hold a specific position during the scanning process. “These are small things that can enhance the patient's expe - rience,” Gordon adds. “They’re expensive, and with wear and tear, they need replacing periodically.” Another item Gordon would love to help the hospital purchase is a specific lift that moves patients onto the MRI bed. According to Gordon, SMGH has one, but it’s in their Xray department, which is too far away from the new MRI room to share.
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