15-04-2025
Canstruction winning teams donate canned goods to North Country food banks
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) – The Northern New York Community Foundation's LEAD Council has announced the winners of its third 'Canstruction for Northern New York' contest to assist in reducing food insecurity in the North Country.
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NNYCF said nine teams combined to collect over 6,000 canned goods and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products that will help restock school-based backpack programs and community food pantries in the Tri-County area. Additionally, the winning teams will share a $1,500 grant award to present to two different school-based backpack programs that participants selected.
With almost 600 votes cast, Carthage Middle School's Builders Club & Student Government entry is the 'People's Choice Award' winner for its sculpture titled 'Let Your Love Flow.' The class also won the 'Top Collection Award' with 3,219 canned goods and other nonperishable items collected, according to NNYCF.
Alicia Anderson, the classroom teaching assistant at Carthage Middle School, spearheaded the initiative to encourage student involvement in the competition from every building in the district. According to Anderson, her pupils accepted the challenge and organized a contest to encourage classrooms across the school to assist in gathering food and hygiene supplies for their sculpture.
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'Working on canstruction this year was a lot of fun. Our club made posters to get everyone involved and we had a competition to get students excited. Almost every classroom participated, and our top three classes each collected more than 300 cans,' eighth-grade club members Finn Anderson, Kyle Schardt, and Catherine Wilay said. 'It feels good to know that we are able to help the community and that our whole school was involved.'
South Jefferson's Junior National Honor Society is the winner of the 'Best Design Award' for its 'canstruction' of 'Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes.' The sculpture of a giant Converse sneaker challenges observers to put themselves in the shoes of our neighbors in need, said the Community Foundation.
South Jefferson Instructional Coach and Junior National Honor Society co-advisor Leslie Robare said it was 'truly inspiring' to watch 'students take full ownership of the Canstruction project.'
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'They tapped into their creativity, collaborated, and designed something incredible,' Robare said. 'None of it would have been possible without the generosity of our community, which always comes together to support our can drive and our students.'
Each of the nine participating teams will donate all items used to build their sculptures to a local food pantry or backpack program. Each award winner will receive a $500 grant for participants to distribute to a nonprofit of their choice.
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Carthage Middle School's Builders Club & Student Government students designated the district's 'Comet Closet' backpack program to receive their collected items. Students also selected the backpack program as the recipient of two $500 grant awards they won for the 'People's Choice Award' and the 'Top Collection Award.'
South Jefferson's Junior National Honor Society students designated the district's Backpack Program, which supports students and families on the weekends, to receive the hundreds of food items they collected as well as the $500 grant for the 'Best Design Award.'
Other teams participating were:
Clarkson University's American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Chapter with 'Golden Knight;'
Exceptional Kids and Family Therapies, Evans Mills, with 'Month of the Military Child;'
North Country Children's Museum, Potsdam, with 'Angry Betty;'
South Jefferson Central School's JCC Edge Class with 'Together we CAN stop childhood
hunger;'
Thousand Islands Central School's National Honor Society with 'Thousand Islands Pride;'
Watertown City School District's Sherman Elementary with 'Sherman Sharks;' and
Watertown City School District's Wiley Intermediate School with 'Watertown Can-Dium!'
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'Canstruction for Northern New York' encouraged tri-county students to team up and build a themed structure made of donated canned food and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products to support a local food pantry or backpack program of their choice and reduce food insecurity across the region.
Participating students had a chance to support the needs of tri-county residents while learning values of community philanthropy and building school spirit. The project helped raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in local communities and empowered students to collaborate and inspire their school and community.
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