Can-do construction

The Central Missouri Food Bank is expecting a huge donation this week — 18,589 cans and packages of food, to be exact.

The only drawback is that some unique works of art will be lost in the process. But that’s how it’s supposed to work. Last weekend, mid-Missouri designers, architects and builders participated in the annual “Canstruction” competition, using canned and packaged food to create elaborate structures. The structures were dismantled Thursday, and the food — weighing an estimated nine tons — will be shipped by truck to the food bank today.

“The Central Missouri Food Bank will turn the feast for the eyes into real substance for the agencies it serves,” said event chairwoman Kim Trabue.

The donated food is expected to break the previous Canstruction donation record by about 2,000 pounds.

This year’s teams from the Columbia and Jefferson City area are all repeat participants.

“We always have a good time doing it, and it is for a great cause,” said John Sullivan, captain of the team from Trabue, Hansen and Hinshaw Inc.

Sullivan’s team has a reputation of success to back it up. The team was an award winner at the 1998 National Canstruction Competition, which features winners from nearly 70 cities across the country. This year, its structure was the Staples’ “Easy Button,” modeled after the button featured in recent Staples commercials.

“While a pretty simple shape, we felt that with some creativity, the size and use of labels would make it impressive,” said Sullivan.

The judges agreed, awarding it the prize for “Best Use of Labels.”

The Architects Alliance Inc. won the overall judges’ award with the “Purple People Feeder,” complete with wings and horn. About 500 cans of stew were used in the structure.

“Finding a purple can was a challenge from the beginning,” said Leslie Backstrom, of the Architects Alliance. “But we found a 40-ounce purple beef stew can that worked out perfectly and we think will provide a great meal.”

The teams purchase the food from local supermarkets with their own money or funds raised from contributions.

The money for the Society of Women Engineers’ supplies comes from private individual donations.

“We usually raise more money than we need and end up donating the overage directly to the food bank,” said Margo Bubb, captain of the group. “Our investment is in time and creativity. It is a fun way to use our math, drawing and analysis skills.”

Also participating were elementary school students from Columbia’s Center for Gifted Education. Their design of the Olympic flag, titled “Compete to Defeat Hunger,” won the honorary “Hearts of Gold” award.

Over the past seven years, Canstruction has donated nearly 95,000 pounds of food to the food bank. Heather Duren, the food bank’s new development director, said the event is one of the organization’s top five sources of donations.

The variety of food that comes from Canstruction is a welcome change to the supply currently on the food bank’s shelves, she said. Cans of corn, green beans and other vegetables provide solid foundations to many of the structures. Although the food bank’s inventory is at an acceptable level right now, Duren said, the tons of food they will receive from Canstruction are needed.

“We’ll go through it in a week,” Duren said.