CANstruction puts a dent in hunger

The results from CANstruction Kelowna 2011 are in and the committee is all smiles. Canstruction Kelowna is a partnership between Rotary Club of Kelowna, the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation, SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise), The Kelowna Community Food Bank, and The Kelowna Salvation Army.

This incredible design/build competition uses canned food as building blocks to create extraordinary structures. This year’s teams include Dorothea Walker Elementary School, Save On Foods, Rotary, SIFE, UBCO Engineering, Kelowna Rotaract, Rotary and White House Mortgages.

Canstruction Kelowna raised over 22,000 cans of food and $3,000 cash to be split between the Kelowna Community Food Bank and Kelowna Salvation Army.

“We’re very grateful for all the support the community has shown. This donation will go a long way to helping families in our community” says Ron Cartmell, Major for the Kelowna Salvation Army.

“Canstruction is a great way to raise the issue of hunger in Kelowna. It is a unique event that gets everyone involved, by way of teams, sponsors, judges, donors and the general public who were able to vote for their favourite structure either in person or online” adds Vonnie Lavers, Executive Director for the Kelowna Community Food Bank.

The winners for Canstruction 2011 are as follows SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) and Kelowna Rotaract won Honourable Mention for their “Hershey’s Kiss” and “Love Sack”.

The UBC-O Engineering team won Structural Ingenuity for their “Love CAN fill your Heart…and your Stomach”.

Best use of labels went to Dorothea Walker for their “Love Cubed”.

Best meal was given to White House Mortgages for their “Love CAN bridge the city and the town”.

Dorothea Walker Elementary School took the People’s Choice award with over 6,000 votes!

And the overall winner, as decided by the judges, went to Save On Foods for “A Hearty Helping Hand to support Food Banks.”

The esteemed judges’ included: Andy and TJ, popular morning radio hosts on 101.5 EZ Rock (formerly SILK FM) Alex Fong, watercolour artist Vern Nielsen, President for the Rotary Club of Kelowna and Gordon Savage, Engineer.

Canstruction 2011 sponsors included: Central Okanagan Foundation, Astral Media, Kelowna Daily Courier, Kelowna Capital News, Orchard Park Shopping Center, Fortis BC, SW Audio, Campbell’s Soup, Save On Foods, The Central Washington & South Central British Columbia Rotary District, Sysco HRI, Kelly O’ Bryan’s Restaurant, Avi-Safe Training and Consulting and Western Rim.

“This is a perfect example of how working together will improve the health of our community”, says Robin Smith, Spokesperson for Canstruction Kelowna.

“The Rotary Club of Kelowna is so thrilled with the results that we have committed to spearheading the event again next year. To get involved, please visit us online at www.kelownacanstruction.com “