A drastic drop in the price of aluminum in the past several months is costing the Southeastern Firefighters' Burn Foundation thousands of dollars because aluminum cans are a big part of its donations.
Back | Next ![Donovan Connell, 14, stands behind his mother Amanda Wilds as she speaks to her aunt-in-law, Nancy Wilds, in the dining area of the Jeffrey Vaden Chavis House, a 50-bed retreat near Doctors Hospital provided by the Southeastern Firefighters' Burn Foundation. "Everything's provided ... it's just amazing," Nancy Wilds said. Kendrick Brinson/Staff](http://chronicle.augusta.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/editorial/images/spotted/66/666836.jpg "Donovan Connell, 14, stands behind his mother Amanda Wilds as she speaks to her aunt-in-law, Nancy Wilds, in the dining area of the Jeffrey Vaden Chavis House, a 50-bed retreat near Doctors Hospital provided by the Southeastern Firefighters' Burn Foundation. "Everything's provided ... it's just amazing," Nancy Wilds said. Kendrick Brinson/Staff")
FEWER FUNDS
The money from collections is used for foundation operations, including a 50-bed retreat near Doctors Hospital's Joseph M. Still Burn Center that offers family members of burn victims a place to stay while their relatives recover. The retreat provides at least one meal a day and is staffed 24 hours a day.
PAST YEARS
Aluminum can drop-off sites are "probably one of our larger single items" in donations, according to Gerald Woods, the president and CEO of the burn foundation. In peak years, the foundation has received as much as $75,000 from can donations. Last year, aluminum collections brought in about $55,000, he said, and this year's expected return is about $45,000.
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![Donna Woodward (right) eats in the living room as she and Odean Bush (center) and Crystal Swaney watch television in the house. "We couldn't go without it," Ms. Woodward said of the house and the relief it has offered her as her father recovers from burns in the nearby hospital. Kendrick Brinson/Staff](http://chronicle.augusta.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/editorial/images/spotted/66/666837.jpg "Donna Woodward (right) eats in the living room as she and Odean Bush (center) and Crystal Swaney watch television in the house. "We couldn't go without it," Ms. Woodward said of the house and the relief it has offered her as her father recovers from burns in the nearby hospital. Kendrick Brinson/Staff")
