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CANSTRUCTION sculptures benefit food drive in Denver
by Roger Miller –
What do a Christmas tree, giant can opener, big red bell, hot rod and the Titanic have in common? This year, in Denver, students built them from canned food items, as the Denver school system expanded its canned food drive through a program called CANSTRUCTION.
Several schools collected items to build their works of art as part of The Salvation Army Christmas canned food drive. Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch came up with the design of the sinking of the Titanic, which was built with more than 4,000 cans, and called the display, Ti-CAN-ic. Like other schools, they worked with a professional design firm to ensure the design’s structural integrity. Other designs used at least 1,000 cans apiece.
The sculptures were showcased at the CANSTRUCTION event at Colorado Mills Shopping Center in Lakewood. Construction of the sculptures started Friday, December 5 during mall hours with project completion that evening. After a weeklong public viewing, all displays were dismantled and the food items delivered to The Salvation Army warehouse where they were distributed in food boxes at Christmas.
“Colorado Mills has enjoyed an ongoing relationship with The Salvation Army and we were very excited to be selected as the site for this creative and worthwhile event,” said Carol Winiger, director of mall marketing, Colorado Mills. “Especially during these tough economic times, we are pleased to support such a worthy cause and a great organization that reaches out to so many in need.” Simon Properties owns Colorado Mills Mall and is a supporter of The Salvation Army nationally.
In years past, local schools have collected canned, bagged and boxed non-perishable food items to support the food drive that helps thousands of Denver area families. This year, The Salvation Army wanted to involve more than just the schools in raising the awareness of the hungry in our community.
“This is a wonderful and creative way to help us meet the needs of the hungry this winter,” said Major Gwynn Jones, The Salvation Army’s Intermountain Division youth secretary. “We look forward to this event growing year after year.”
“This is the first time we have involved elementary school children in a project of this size and we are really excited to see their designs,” stated Sally DiSciullo, SDA/C, past national president of the Society of Design Administration, who is the local CANSTRUCTION representative. “We are very excited to have this event in Denver.” Winners in this competition will be entered in the international CANSTRUCTION contest.
In 2007, about 20,000 people received holiday assistance in the Denver metro area. This year, The Salvation Army saw an increase of more than 10 percent in requests for assistance during the holidays.
