One Can can make a difference – Canstruction steering committee calls for kindness

Have you ever skipped breakfast as you ran out the door late for a meeting? Or missed lunch because you pushed through to meet a deadline? As adults, we manage, but how would you feel if it were your children skipping meals? What if it was the neighbourhood children; what would you do? What if you learned that more than 55,000 children in the Greater Toronto Area went hungry at least once a week because there wasnt enough money to buy food to eat? What would you do then?

Canstruction was developed by the design industry to showcase their creative talents in a fun and informative manner while raising awareness and generating food donations for local food banks. Canstruction is held in cities across North America; this year marks the 9th annual design/build competition in Toronto.

In less than eight hours, teams of volunteers (professionals and students) create unconventional works of art from thousands of cans of food. These exhibits are judged by esteemed peers in a variety of categories including structural integrity, best use of labels and best meal. These ingenious displays are open for public viewing for approximately one week.

The countless hours put forward into design development, supply coordination and the actual construction of these beautiful structures are rewarded with the knowledge that they are lifting the spirits of those in need; raising public awareness about hunger; and the valuable donation Torontos Daily Bread Food Bank receives when these super-sized masterpieces are de-canstructed and all the cans of food are donated.

Last year, 19 teams participated in the Toronto Canstruction event, enabling a donation of almost 70,000 lbs. of food to Daily Bread Food Bank. This years event in Toronto will be held at the TD Centre. The build night will take place on Monday, November 5, and the exhibits will be on display until Sunday, November 11. There are several ways you can participate:
? Initiate or be a part of a corporate team
? Sponsor a student team
? Sponsor the event; contact the Canstruction Toronto Steering Committee for details (canstruction@sdacanada.com).

For more information on how you can be part of this years event, please visit our website at www.canstructiontoronto.org. More information about Canstruction can be found at www.canstruction.org.

It all starts with One Can, one building block, one act of kindness. One Can can make a difference. Can you?