Fall in upstate NY has many exciting things to look forward to, but Canstruction Rochester is our favorite autumn tradition! Our team is participating again in this year’s event, a super creative, annual food drive where community members design and build artistic structures made entirely out of canned goods. Last year, the organization successfully donated over 35,000 cans, which translated to over 17,000 pounds of grocery items made available to local food banks as a key part of ensuring families in the community don’t go hungry. This year, they are determined to break those numbers.

With the theme, “Oh, the Places You CAN Go,” teams are pulling inspiration from beloved children’s books to form this year’s can-based structures, once again being housed at the Strong National Museum of Play. After the sculptures are built and winners are declared in several categories, the sculptures remain on display to the general public for two weeks. At the close of the competition, all of the food is donated to Foodlink, a partner of the event. During those two weeks, visitors of the museum can vote for the People’s Choice winner.

How you can get involved:

• Mark October 17 on your calendar, and plan to visit The Strong Museum in Rochester afterward during the exhibit run (October 17–31).
• Bring your voting finger! Museum guests get to choose the People’s Choice winner.
• Spread the word (and the cans). Every vote and every can moved helps amplify our mission.

Canstruction is an international charity design competition that raises thousands of pounds of canned food donations for local communities every year, and our firm has participated in events throughout the country. This is our team’s 14th year participating in Rochester, and over 40,000 canned goods have been donated so far.

We can’t reveal our structure just yet but be on the lookout on our social media channels. (In the meantime, you can check out our build from last year right here.)

 Stay tuned – and may the best can-sculpture win!