Teams compete in canned food sculpture contest

Teams will test their canned food sculpting skills in a competition at College Mall this weekend. The event is part of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank’s “Hunger is Scary!” Canstruction event.

“This is an exciting way to remind people of our mission and collect food at the same time,” said Jake Bruner, Hoosier Hills office and development manager.

The competition will pit teams against each other to see who can create the scariest sculpture of canned goods, which will eventually be distributed to local food banks and hunger relief agencies.

Mall visitors may vote for their favorite sculptures by donating canned food to the sculpture of their choice during College Mall’s “Malloween.”

Teams have been working on their sculptures since Oct. 21, and the competition officially opens to voting Saturday. The sculptures will remain in place through
Halloween.

All donated canned goods will benefit food banks served by Hoosier Hills throughout southern Indiana. 

“The groups will be using over 7,300 individual cans, which are likely to way over 5,000 pounds,” Bruner said. “We also hope to collect canned goods through the voting process.”

Bruner also said Hoosier Hills hopes to make the Canstruction competition an annual event and hopes it will include more groups and sculptures in future years.

The teams for this year are “Cookie Monster” by IU’s Ultimate Frisbee Team,  “IU Cemetery” by the Indiana Memorial Union Board and “PumpCAN” by Operation Smile. Because of the large size of each sculpture, each team is also advised by a professional architect or engineer.

Because of an increased demand for help from food banks, Bruner said, many hunger relief agencies are having trouble supplying the food needed.

“It hasn’t been easy to keep pace with demand,” he said. “This is a different way to draw attention to the problem and help us bring in additional food.”

— Zach Ammerman