{"id":7696,"date":"2025-04-27T21:51:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T21:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7696"},"modified":"2025-04-27T21:51:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T21:51:39","slug":"marseilles-boy-collects-553-cans-of-tuna-for-local-food-pantry-to-celebrate-his-7th-birthday-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7696","title":{"rendered":"Marseilles boy collects 553 cans of tuna for local food pantry to celebrate his 7th birthday – Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"


Maximilian Claahsen, of Marseilles, smiles as he collects cans of tuna for his birthday drive on Sunday, April 27, 2025. The cans will be donated to the Marseilles Food Pantry, which is also operated by Max\u2019s mother Carolyn Claahsen, at St. Joseph\u2019s Catholic Church, 200 Broadway St. <\/span>(Maribeth Wilson)
It\u2019s the simple things in life that bring the most joy \u2014 for Maximilian Claahsen, of Marseilles<\/a>, it\u2019s stacking tuna cans.
Stacking cans has become more than a fun activity for him, it\u2019s also a way to help people in his community.
In celebration of his seventh birthday, Max asked his family, friends and community members to donate cans of tuna, that he could stack prior to handing them over to the Marseilles Food Pantry to be given to patrons.
This isn\u2019t the first time, he\u2019s utilized his birthday as a donation drive. For his fourth birthday, the first drive, he received 76 cans and last year drew a record number with a total of 1,144 cans.
This year, the drive received 553 cans of tuna on Sunday at the Marseilles Food Pantry, which also is operated by Max\u2019s mother Carolyn Claahsen, at St. Joseph\u2019s Catholic Church, 200 Broadway St.
Claahsen said Max has been stacking since he was 2 years old. They began the drive on his fourth birthday and last year he asked if they could do the tuna drive again \u2014 marking this year the third year they have collected for the pantry.
\u201cWe do the tuna for the drive because it\u2019s what [Max] has always stacked,\u201d she said. \u201cHe used to even make houses and stuff.\u201d
Prior to the drive, cans of tuna was an item the pantry was purchasing every week. Now, the drive stocks up the pantry for a while.
The largest donation was brought in by Marseilles Mayor Jim Hollenbeck, who dropped off 100 cans.
Max said collecting cans of tuna makes him happy and he enjoys being able to help the people in his community.
\u201cIt\u2019s so that we have enough tuna that we don\u2019t run out,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to help people.\u201d
The Marseilles Food Pantry is open from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. the first and third Tuesday\u2019s of the month at 200 Broadway St. in Marseilles.
Tami Perryman, pastor of Community of Christ Church, drops off cans of tuna to Maximilian Claahsen on Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Marseilles. <\/span>(Maribeth Wilson)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maximilian Claahsen, of Marseilles, smiles as he collects cans of tuna for his birthday drive on Sunday, April 27, 2025. The cans will be donated to the Marseilles Food Pantry, which is also operated by Max\u2019s mother Carolyn Claahsen, at St. Joseph\u2019s Catholic Church, 200 Broadway St. (Maribeth Wilson)It\u2019s the simple things in life that bring the most joy \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t