Capital Region CANStruction 2013 [PHOTOS]

If you missed Capital Region CANstruction when it was at the New York State Museum (222 Madison Ave, Albany), no worries!

Though the structures are something completely different to see in person than through my pictures, you can at least get an idea of the work that goes into them. CANstruction is an annual design and build competition to construct giant-sized structures completely out of canned food.

All the food is donated and will continued to be donated to the Food Pantries of the Capital District. The exhibit not only raises awareness to the cause but visitors are encouraged to bring canned goods as donations to use when casting ballots for their favorite. Cans are also on hand to buy for $1 a piece if you forget to bring one with you. Last year’s theme was Zoo Can Do It and if you missed out on that as well, you can look at pictures from that exhibit on my Facebook page HERE. The theme this year was Can You Imagine and not only can you see the magnitude of this structures but each sign says how much of each product was used in its making.

Statewide, 2.3 million residents rely on emergency food assistance annually. The Food Pantries of the Capital District helps raise awareness about hunger here in our local communities as well as providing food for the hungry. CANstruction brought in “half of all the food that they distributed to the food pantries through food drives in 2012.” For $1, a food pantry can purchase over 6 pounds of food from the food bank. That means in 2012, CANstruction wrote a check which equated to 90,943.75 pounds of food!

Overall their mission is to address hunger in our area and it all starts with one can. Before I went last year, I had no idea that this program can do so much. Sometimes it’s hard for us to think about buying a little extra on our grocery trips to donate to the food banks but take the time to donate some money to help friends, family, neighbors around you that need that food and can’t afford it. Be thankful that you have the option of what to make for dinner tonight and pass that luxury on others.  This exhibit is fantastic and great to look at but don’t forget what it stands for and the message it’s trying to spread. Do what you can to help.

I posted a few of my favorites here but if you want to see all the great can structures, check out my album on my Facebook page HERE. Even if you missed the exhibit, you can still donate to the Food Pantries of the Capital District. To send a donation via mail: include you name and that you donation is toward the CANstruction goal and mail it to The Food Pantries of the Capital District on 32 Essex St, Albany NY 12206 and if you’re interested in participating next year, contact Sara Stein at SStein@eypae.com