Sister M. Catherine Raczkowski, CSSF, and Sister M. Johnice Rzadkiewicz, CSSF, director of the Response to Love Center, sort water bottles. The center is accepting donations from 19 area can and bottle redemption centers to help offset the cost of operating the community outreach center. (Dan Cappellazzo/Staff Photographer)

The deposit on cans and bottles is 5 cents. That may not seem like a lot of money, but Response to Love Center is taking nickels from can and bottle returns in Western New York and using the accumulated money to help with its ministry.

"We realized that everyone can't give big dollars, but the little support of coins can add up to be a fundraiser for us," Sister M. Johnice Rzadkiewicz, CSSF, executive director of Response to Love Center said.

Turning can and bottle returns into a donation for Response to Love Center was a mission for Rich Gurbacki, a member of the Response to Love board of directors. Gurbacki had been donating his personal returns to Response to Love through a program at the Bottles and Cans Retrieval Center located near his home.

"I thought, why not expand it," he said. "I bounced that off Sister Johnice and she said sure let's go for it."

Gurbacki reached out to Anthony Cich, field supervisor at Bottles and Cans Retrieval Center. Gurbacki explained that he wanted to expand his donation beyond his local collection site and to get the word out for others to do the same.

Bottle and Cans Retrieval agreed with the idea and now all 19 stores in the Western New York area have the information needed for the Response to Love fundraiser.

"If anybody is looking to donate to it, they have the ability to do so by bringing their bottles and cans back to one of our locations," Cich said.

Making sure the donation goes to Response to Love is easy and all donations go to a general account.

"All you have to say is, 'I want my deposit credited to the Response to Love Account,'" Gurbacki said.

Sister Johnice is very pleased with the outcome of the fundraiser.

"People are responding very generously and we need to continue that," she said.

To find a Bottles and Cans Retrieval Center near you visit their website http://bottleandcanrc.com/locations/. Visit https://responsetolovecenter.com/donate/ to make a direct donation to Response to Love. Contact them at 716-894-7030.