Canstruction

From the Canstruction website:

Canstruction is a design/build competition showcasing the talents of design and construction industry professionals and students they mentor. At events held around the world, teams are given just 12 hours to defy expectations, logic, and gravity as they build fantastic sculptures from thousands of cans of food.

Dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to bring their creations to life. The following day, the super-sized masterpieces are judged in a variety of categories as these unconventional art exhibits are opened to the public, the cost of admission - just one can of food.

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food.

The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.

Since its inception, ten million pounds of food has been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. Initiated by the Denver, Seattle and New York Chapters of the SDA in 1992/93, Canstruction now has over one hundred individual competitions scheduled to take place during the 2007-2008 cycle.

There are several options for getting involved with Canstruction and helping out with the fight against hunger.

Host a Competition
Since Canstruction is a project of the design industry, part of its mission is to get architects, engineers, designers and contractors involved in giving back to the community. So the first requirement for any competition is that these design professionals play a key role. Check out the link for more details on the requirements for hosting a competition.

Get involved with a local competition already in place
The link takes you to the list of participating cities. Click on your city if it's already on the list, and you'll get the contact information for the organizer as well as location and so forth.

Enter a Team
Your team must be led by a design industry professional. (Someone needs to understand how to make those cans stand up straight!) Teams can have as many people as want, but only five people at a time can be building. Click the link for more info and tips on running a team.

... you'll automatically be making a donation to Modest Needs, working to stop the cycle of poverty before it starts for low-income workers struggling to afford emergency expenses.

Doesn't that feel good?