A recycling journey

Bernie Jimenez spends the first Saturday of every month with his daughter driving around Costa Mesa in his sport utility vehicle, collecting bottles and cans from his neighbors and taking them to the OCC Recycling Center.

He takes the money he makes from the pounds of glass and aluminum he recycles and uses it to buy supplies for parents who just had a child diagnosed with cancer. According to Jimenez, the first two weeks after having a kid diagnosed with the disease are the hardest on parents because their lives are thrust into upheaval with no warning.

So Jimenez uses the funds to distribute “journey kits,” which include educational materials, gas cards and food vouchers to help parents through difficult times.

Inspiration for the organization he created, the Natalie Tanner Foundation, came from his friends whose child has cancer.

“When they first heard that their daughter had a brain tumor, there weren’t a lot of resources out there to help them,” Jimenez said.

The Natalie Tanner Foundation just got a big boost from a $23,000 grant given to them by UPS. With the money, Jimenez hopes to distribute the first 29 journey kits to parents who turned in applications at a June barbecue he organized for people in the cancer ward of a San Diego hospital.

His 8-year-old daughter, Alexandria, is his first lieutenant in the effort. She rides along with him and works as a secretary, accountant and laborer all at once.

“I think it’s kind of fun because I’ve never done it before. I’m learning that I can take a lot of responsibility for two things at the same time and I can also help the environment,” Alexandria said.

As her father goes house to house picking up the recycling bags, she marks down who has donated and how much they’ve donated. Then, when it comes time to sort the loot, she gets her hands dirty. And on top of that, she keeps track of the money they get from the recycling center.

The foundation netted $100 from its first collection, drawing plastics, glass and aluminum from 18 Costa Mesa households. Since then, three local businesses have signed up, and Jimenez is hopeful this will multiply the volume of recycling they do. He put recycling bins and fliers at highly trafficked spots in the business offices and hopes workers’ break room snacks turn into profits for the foundation.

“Mostly it’s the employees of the businesses who go through a lot of soda and bottles of water every day,” he said.

In order to add your address to his list of pickup locations or apply to receive a journey kit, call (714) 726-7808 or go to www.nataliesfoundation.org.

TIPS

 Sort your recycling into different bags for aluminum, glass and plastic

 Wine bottles and milk cartons are recyclable, but don’t earn the charity any money

 If you put a bin in your business, put it in a high-traffic area

 Put a flier in the lunch room or break room to let employees know about the program

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.