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2015 Canstruction Competition accepting registrants
Team registration is now open for the third annual Knoxville Holiday Canstruction presented by Messer Construction Co.
Local teams of architects, engineers, construction companies, contractors, designers and other organizations are invited to a general interest meeting Friday, June 26, at 4 p.m. at Messer’s West Knoxville office at 120 Perimeter Park Road to learn more about the competition and how to participate.
“We are calling on our building industry partners to join us again to help fight hunger this holiday season,” said Randy Fields, business development executive for Messer. “Investing in and building our local community where we live and work is what Messer is all about. We look forward to Canstruction all year as a team-building exercise and a way to give back during the holidays.”
Canstruction is a fun art exhibition with a serious purpose – fighting hunger. Teams from local companies design and construct large holiday-themed art sculptures made of canned food items, which are placed on public display at the Knoxville Convention Center in late November. In two years, Knoxville Holiday Canstruction has donated more than 29,000 canned food items to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
“We accept teams of all skill levels,” Fields said. “Messer makes available consultants to help with the design process. For companies who want to be involved but might not have the technical experience to design the structure, we also will help to identify partnerships with companies with engineering or building expertise.”
Registration is open, and teams will be accepted through July 24. Teams can register at the June 26 interest meeting or by contacting Fields, the event chair, at 865-474-6704 or knoxcan@messer.com.
Each Canstruction sculpture typically includes between 900 and 3,500 cans, with only one-quarter-inch plywood or Plexiglas between the rows of cans and one-quarter-inch cardboard tubing for support. The color of the structures is determined by the colors of the selected cans.
“Many families are struggling to make the holidays special for their families and still put food on the table,” said Elaine Streno, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. “The donation from Holiday Canstruction helps raise our inventory and ensure we are able to provide holiday meals to hungry families in our 18-county service area in East Tennessee.”
Second Harvest targets the working poor – those who are employed but might not receive benefits or earn sufficient wages. In East Tennessee, 200,000 people fall within the income level to be at-risk of going hungry.
Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 16 million pounds of food and grocery products annually and is a partner with Feeding America, a national network of food banks.
For more information about Holiday Canstruction, visit facebook.com/knoxcan. To RSVP for the June 26 interest meeting, email knoxcan@messer.com or call Randy Fields at 865-474-6704.
Published June 20, 2015 |
