"Your Cans. Their Wish."

Gerald Schied’s Story

Wish granter Gerald Schied has made it his mission to raise money through aluminum can sales to support life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. He started collecting scrap metal and aluminum cans for personal reasons; however, as his collection of metals grew, he wanted to make a greater impact.

Gerald contemplated what to do with his growing can collection. One commercial sparked Schied’s interest: “I kept seeing Make-A-Wish commercials on TV and newspapers, something was drawing me in there. I looked at my son and said: ‘Why don’t we just haul them in and have them make the check out to Make-A-Wish?”

What started as a small operation with his son has quickly snowballed into an impactful initiative. Today, Gerald has a network of 250 people including friends, acquaintances, and community members who collect aluminum cans and other scrap metal—all in support of Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana. “Your Cans. Their Wish.” That is the simple message displayed on his pickup truck.

With the increase in can suppliers, Gerald had to optimize his system—he ordered storage totes, built a can crusher and scheduled can pickups into his calendar. Gerald can store about 9,000 cans in each of his 131 storage totes and maintains a multifaceted can pick up schedule.

Gerald’s most recent collection of cans was collected over the past three years, and as his storage totes filled, he decided it was time to start hauling the cans to the recycling plant. After multiple trips to the plant, the final count was tallied: one million cans! The massive can collection resulted in a $40,000 check to Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana, adding to his previous donation of $65,000. Through the years, Gerald has donated over $100,000 to help Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

We are incredibly grateful for Gerald’s commitment to our mission of granting wishes for children with critical illnesses. His generosity with his time and resources has made an impact on our Make-A-Wish community.

Through the years, Gerald has donated over $100,000 to help Make-A-Wish South Dakota & Montana grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

What started as a small operation with his son has snowballed into an impactful initiative.