This local food drive got really creative for a canned good cause

Station Mall and several local organizations — including Village Media, the home of SooToday — have stepped forward to help in the ongoing mission to feed the community’s hungry.

Station Mall hosted a CANstruction competition in which organizations collected donations of canned food in September and arranged the cans in creative fashion at locations throughout the Bay Street shopping centre.

CANstruction is a global anti-hunger initiative that began in 1992 through the Society for Design Administration, an affiliate of the American Institute of Architects. 

CANstruction displays of donated canned food can be large and elaborate and can appear in the form of beloved cartoon characters, superheroes, birds, animals, famous buildings or objects such as bank vaults.

The CANstruction event at Station Mall was not the first in Sault Ste. Marie but it was a local revival of that particular food drive.

“Station Mall had hoped to hold this event for several years and although small this year, we are glad to have it finally happen,” Lynne Fabbro, Station Mall guest services administrator, told SooToday. “Our thanks go out to the teams. It involved fundraising, planning and hard work but they must have found it rewarding because they are already planning creations for the next one.” 

The Indigenous Friendship Centre constructed two displays of donated canned food, one incorporating the design of the Indigenous Medicine Wheel, the other portraying the Red Dress to recognize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

St. Mary’s College and Sault College students constructed their collection of donated canned food in a display that included an image of The Cross of Christ and the message ‘Let's help put hunger in the shadows, not the hungry.’

Village Media staff members constructed their display to resemble a Rubik's Cube and named it Rubik's CANundrum.

The various groups put their CANstruction displays together at Station Mall Friday, Sept. 27 to Sunday, Sept. 29.

The displays stood from Monday, Sept. 30 to Sunday, Oct. 6 before they were ‘de-canstructed,’ the canned goods sent to the Algoma Food Security Network to be given to Harvest Algoma, Niigaaniin, Salvation Army, Soup Kitchen Community Centre, and St. Vincent’s Place. 

Judges awarded prizes in the following categories: 

• Structural Ingenuity: The Indigenous Friendship Centre - The Red Dress
• Best Use of Labels: The Indigenous Friendship Centre  - The Medicine Wheel
• Best Meal: St. Mary's College and Sault College - Let's help put hunger in the shadows, not the hungry
• Most Cans: The Indigenous Friendship Centre - The Medicine Wheel    

The Station Mall and Algoma Food Security Network CANstruction 2024 award went to The Indigenous Friendship Centre - The Red Dress

Village Media won the CANstruction People’s Choice Award for Rubik's CANundrum.

“I first heard about CANstruction from a Spotlight article that SooToday had run back in June. After reading the Spotlight, I thought this was a fun and creative way for us to help members of our community,” said Leah Johnson, Village Media project designer. “We had a meeting in August to decide on what we wanted to build, and the team voted on a couple of options, but we ultimately went with a Rubik's Cube. Donations came from a couple of places. Staff donated cans and money, and we had members of the community who donated either cans or money for us to buy cans.” 

A group of Village Media staff members and their children constructed CANundrum on Sept. 28.

“Seeing SooToday participate in something like this is a no-brainer to us. Our mandate is to strengthen the communities we serve, so why would we not participate?” Johnson said. 

“When we approached Harvest Algoma and the Food Security Network they immediately jumped on board to assist. I can't thank them enough for their support. The Salvation Army, Soup Kitchen Community Centre, St. Vincent Place and Niigaaniin all volunteered to be here for de-canstruction to collect the donated cans,” Fabbro said.

It is hoped by Station Mall and the various food banks that the event will get bigger and better every year.

“Food insecurity isn't going away anytime soon,” Fabbro said.