Canstruction Toronto invites teams of engineers, architects, and designers to take part in the 19th annual Canstruction at the Toronto Dominion Centre in Toronto. The 2018 event will kick off with an information session on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 6:00pm at the Design Exchange (234 Bay St).
What is Canstruction?
Canstruction is an international annual design and build competition to raise awareness about the growing hunger gap. Teams of architects, engineers, designers and students design and build ‘Canstructures’, structures made entirely from canned foods within a 10’x10’x8’ space. Teams compete for the titles: Best Design, Best Use of Labels, Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, and People’s Choice. After the competition and exhibition, the structures are deconstructed and all of the cans are donated to Daily Bread Food Bank, the largest provider of food relief in the GTA.
A jury will judge the completed ‘canstructures’ anonymously on May 15, 2018 and the winners will be announced at an evening reception held at the Design Exchange.
“Canstruction is a unique charity food drive and a way for the design industry to collaborate in a creative way and give back to the community,” says Helen Kabriel, co-chair of Canstruction Toronto. “We are so grateful and proud that we can step up and use our skills to make a change, in a way which will have a significant impact within the communities in which we live.”
What is the impact of Canstruction?
Last year, Canstruction teams donated 56,739 lbs of shelf-stable food to Daily Bread Food Bank, which was distributed to its member agencies’ meal programs and community-based food banks, to supply 120,000 client visits. Since the event started in Toronto in 1999, Canstruction Toronto has donated almost one million pounds of food to Daily Bread Food Bank. Since 1992, Canstruction has contributed more than 30 million pounds of food to programs around the world. Canstruction events are held annually in over 150 cities around the world including North America, Australia, South America, Europe and Asia.
Last year, Daily Bread Food Bank provided food for 825,180 hampers in addition to thousands of nutritious meals and snacks at breakfast programs, homeless shelters and prenatal programs for mothers on low incomes. That’s $23 million worth of purchased and donated food delivered to those who need it most. Canstruction Toronto is helping fill that gap.
“While the holiday season is on, it’s typically a high donation time for food banks, but contributions drop almost as soon as the festivities end – and we have 175 food programs and 90,000 people depending on us, so that’s a scary prospect,” says Gail Nyberg, executive director of Daily Bread Food Bank. “Canstruction’s support is perfectly timed: it’s an infusion of tens of thousands of pounds of nutritious food just when our stock is getting low. It also raises awareness of hunger and poverty in this city in a truly unique way.”
Important dates:
Information night: January 11, 2018
Deadline for registration: January 19, 2018
Design submission deadline: February 16, 2018
Build night: May 14, 2018
Awards night: May 15, 2018
Decanstruction: May 19, 2018
For more information please contact: Bareket Kezwer, [email protected]