Vanliner Insurance Company has been one of our most-reliable allies in the fight to end hunger. So when they heard that food banks face their greatest need during the summer months, they decided to take action.
"We were going to hold an event in the fall, but through Move For Hunger we've learned that food banks really struggle during the summer," said Marketing Representative, Erin Tkach.
When classes end, millions of children are no longer receiving free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch at school. Families turn to food banks to help replace those meals. Most people tend to associate food drives with the holiday season, but food banks provide services throughout the year and can struggle to meet the increased demand during the summertime.
To lend a helping hand to hungry kids in Missouri, Vanliner Insurance held a two-day Canstruction event at their offices earlier this month.
The idea behind Canstruction is simple. Colossal structures are built using cans of food. At the conclusion of the event, all of the food is donated to a local hunger relief organization. Canstruction events have been held in over 150 cities around the world since 1992, resulting in nearly 40 million pounds of food being donated to those in need.
Vanliner's staff loves competition, so they broke out into three teams to see which could build the most impressive edible edifice. Employees who weren't involved in the architectural aspects of the event were encouraged to donate canned goods to serve as the raw materials for the contest. For every ten cans donated, employees received a raffle ticket for a chance to win a gift card for the office's cafeteria. Schact estimated the over 40 staff members made some kind of donation to the cause.
A great deal of planning went in to the design process. Meetings were held. Blueprints were drawn up. Requests for cans with particular color schemes were made. If a certain hue was lacking, the group went so far as to wrap the cans in an appropriately-colored piece of paper.
Each team was given one hour to build their project using all of the cans that were donated. One team designed a giant can of Campbell's Soup. Another re-created the Vanliner Insurance logo on an Etch A Sketch. Our personal favorite belonged to the crew who CANstructed a moving truck!
Over 700 cans of food were collected during the event, all of which were then donated to the Circle of Concern food pantry in Valley Park, Missouri. Aside from being a wonderful way to help their neighbors in need, the competition also served as a great team-building excercise.
"We had so much fun," Tkach said. "I think next year we'll have even more people participate."
A food drive is a great way to build camaraderie. We can help you organize an event at your office!
