TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is putting a creative spin on fighting hunger this summer, one can at a time.
On Saturday, Park Place Mall hosted the annual Canstruction competition, where teams of architects, engineers, designers and others stacked thousands of canned goods into intricate sculptures, all to support families facing food insecurity. This year’s theme: Landmarks.
Five local teams participated, including crews from Tucson Electric Power, Swain Associates, A23 Studios, DPR Construction and Bombardier. Their creations ranged from a replica of Stonehenge to a towering recreation of the San Xavier Mission, which stood 19 cans high.
“Every year, Canstruction allows us to come together, donate cans in large quantities, and do what we love, build things,” said Laura Vertes, president of AIA Southern Arizona and principal at Swain Associates. “We get to express our creativity and give back to the community.”
For the Community Food Bank, the timing of this event couldn’t be more critical.
“Everyone thinks about doing a food drive around the holiday season, which is great,” said Emily Cartagine, event specialist with the Food Bank. “But in summer, we see a real spike in need—kids are out of school, families aren’t getting those school meals and the cost of groceries continues to rise.”
As food prices climb, more families, including those turning to the food bank for the first time, are relying on donations to get by.
“They are not getting the same value for those dollars,” Cartagine said. “So events like this help us restock our pantries at just the right time.”
Participants said it was about more than just competition.
“Every can stocker at Safeway on the East side of town hates me because I went and bought all the individual brown cans,” laughed Lynn Borders, business relationship manager at TEP, whose team constructed a replica San Xavier Mission, dubbed Can Xavier Del Bac. “What we love is that we bring all this food together, but all of it goes to the food bank afterwards.”
The sculptures will remain on display inside Park Place Mall until July 18, offering shoppers a chance to view the artwork, donate to the food bank and learn about hunger in Southern Arizona.
Supporters can also cast a vote for their favorite sculpture in the People’s Choice Award by donating online through the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona’s website.
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Joel Foster is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9 who previously worked as an English teacher in both Boston and the Tucson area. Joel has experience working with web, print and video in the tech, finance, nonprofit and the public sectors. In his off-time, you might catch Joel taking part in Tucson's local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel at joel.foster@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
