FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Alan Little said he wants to be a photographer or a scientist when he grows up.

But one nurse at the cancer clinic, where his volunteer work collecting and recycling aluminum cans buys snacks and bottled water for patients during their chemotherapy treatments, thinks differently.

“Alan is such a great guy,” said nurse Brenda Perry, referring to his charitable work visible in the large “bucket of snacks” a few feet from where cancer patients sit receiving their chemotherapy treatments. “I think he’s going to grow up to be a nurse.”

Two patients receiving their chemotherapy Thursday laughed at that, as did the other three nurses who staff the treatment section of Thomas Hospital’s Infirmary West Oncology and Infusion Services.

There’s a lot of laughter doing such serious business.

During Thursday’s visit, one of the patients, Bob Morgan, said the nurses were their “guardian angels.”

After he said that, everyone laughed even louder.

Perry, who was standing behind the reporter, had been holding up a card telling him to say just that — that the nurses were “guardian angels.”

“We rehearsed for the interview,” said nurse Katrina Schonemann.

More laughter.

“You couldn’t find a better place to come have your chemotherapy,’” said Morgan, who is near the end of his treatment for lymphoma. “I think we’ve got it beat.”

No cue cards prompted those statements.

The nurses said Little’s volunteer work played an important role in supplementing the snacks and beverages provided to patients during their treatments, where they must sit for several hours receiving chemotherapy.

“We weren’t able to get bottled water for our patients,” Schonemann said. “His work has just been wonderful. There’s also times when we run low on snacks. He keeps our buckets full.”

Little, 8, in the third grade at Summerdale Elementary School, has become something of a legend in this clinic, where nurses and patients say they talk daily about his volunteer work.

There’s also a framed picture of a flower he painted for the patients on the table with the snack foods, a picture of him holding the bucket he uses to collect the cans.

“The patients noticed that all of a sudden we had more variety,” said nurse Kathy Kerley, referring to the new snack foods and drinks that began appearing. “His mother called us and asked if he could bring snacks for our patients.”

Schonemann said loss of appetite is something patients sometimes face during their treatments, as well as a change in how food tastes.

“I just had something that tasted really good,” said Carol Howard, in her fifth week for treatment for lung cancer. “It was that peanut butter cookie.”

Howard said she was doing well and was a big fan of Little and his volunteer work.

Christina Little, who commutes daily from Summerdale for work at a Fairhope business, said several members of her family’s church had cancer, and that got her family thinking of what they could do to best “walk the right path.”

Christina called the Fairhope hospital and learned that although the cancer clinic did provide snacks and beverages for its patients, some additional variety would be a blessing.

“I know we’re short on money like a lot of people,” Little said, referring to how they came up with the Cans 4 Chemo idea. “And collecting cans is both cleaning up trash and lets us recycle it for money to buy the snacks and drinks. It gives our family quality time to work and walk together.”

Christina said that she, her husband, Jerome, who works for a state marine research agency in Gulf Shores, and Alan, sometimes all work together on weekends on the project.

But it’s mostly Alan, she said, who turned 8 in July, doing the work.

“He’s got a big heart,” she said. “It just tickles me that my son is willing to do this. We’re trying to instill good things in our family. I’ve had so many people ask why we do this. I answer, ‘Why not?’”

During a recent trip to the Fairhope Municipal Pier, Christina, Jerome and Alan talked about their project.

“We get about 35-45 cents a pound for the cans in Foley,” Jerome said.

Christina said she waits until they get a full bag of snacks before she delivers them to the hospital.

“I try and get up there every week,” she said.

Alan has not yet been up to visit the hospital, given the family’s busy schedule and where they live, but they hope to visit soon, Christina said.

“I know the ladies up there want to see him.”

Alan is modest at first about his volunteer work, but he does eventually light up when he talks about it.

“I want to help people,” he said. “It’s a good thing for people to want to help people. If other people want to help us, they can contact us.”

Alan said if other people need their help, they also need to let them know.

“We pick up cans so we can give them a lot of nice snacks.”

When Alan and his family visit the clinic where his work is visible, he will probably be treated like a minor celebrity.

“The patients say ‘thank you’ to us,” Schonemann said Thursday. “But they are really saying ‘thank you’ to him.”

Christina Little said they have an e-mail address at littlehelpinghands2000@yahoo.com for people interested in learning more about the Cans 4 Chemo project, or “just to say hi to Alan.”