Republic file photo One of the CANstruction creations from the past.
United Way of Bartholomew County’s CANstruction, described as a creative building process with canned food, is rebuilding this year on Feb. 19 at FairOaks Mall in Columbus.
That means it will feature a more normal seven teams, in recovery mode during the pandemic. In February 2021, with no vaccine yet available at the time of the event planning, the friendly competition between companies and organizations was limited to three teams for safety reasons.
The annual event, in which teams build everything from facsimiles of local or national structures to humorously themed depictions, benefits three local food banks: Love Chapel food pantry, Salvation Army and the Community Center of Hope. The timing of the event is significant because it provides the pantries with a boost of food at a time considered a post-holiday lull, food bank leaders say.
Most years, the event generates nearly 50,000 cans or more, divided among those social service agencies.
The record of 61,218 cans was set in 2020. The previous record was 48,000 cans.
“The fact that we have seven teams this year is fantastic,” said Magen Pillar, United Way’s communications manager.
After teams build their concepts Feb. 19, the public will then have a week to vote on their favorite creations. Voting will be available online at the United Way website uwbarthco.org.
Pillar said there is not yet “any concrete goal” for this year’s event.
“We really just want to get our total can level back up to where it was pre-pandemic,” she said.
She said the average number of cans that would be considered especially successful would be between 35,000 and 43,000 cans.
Over the years CANstruction has resulted in 404,537 cans donated to local food banks and monetary donations given as online votes of $15,457, according to United Way. People also vote in person at the mall with their own canned goods donated to the cause.
