Canstruction RI to benefit R.I. Community Food Bank

Kristine Christensen, left, and Pierson Booher, both employees of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects of Providence, build the indoor seawall for the sculpture “Turning the Tides On Hunger” with their teammates. The event March 12 involved six teams and took place at the Providence Place Skybridge Concourse during Canstruction Build Day to collect canned food for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK
Kristine Christensen, left, and Pierson Booher, both employees of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects of Providence, build the indoor seawall for the sculpture “Turning the Tides On Hunger” with their teammates. The event March 12 involved six teams and took place at the Providence Place Skybridge Concourse during Canstruction Build Day to collect canned food for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

PROVIDENCE – Six Canstruction RI sculptures, created by teams of architects, engineers and contractors with nearly 30,000 pounds of canned food, are on exhibit along the Providence Place Skybridge Concourse through March 25 – part of an effort to address food insecurity in Rhode Island.
Visitors can see favorite characters like R2D2 and BB8 from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Dory from “Finding Nemo,” along with a taste of Dunkin’ Donuts, a magic lunchbox and a tribute to the Ocean State.
Behind the challenge of designing and building enormous sculptures from full cans of food is the goal of helping to alleviate serious problems of food insecurity. After the exhibit is carefully “de-canstructed,” the thousands of cans of food used in each sculpture are transported to the R.I. Community Food Bank (www.rifoodbank.org), where they will be distributed to Rhode Islanders in need of food assistance.
Each month, the Food Bank serves 60,000 people through a network of 167 agencies such as food pantries, shelters, youth programs and senior centers.
The goal of Canstruction RI is to donate 20,000 to 30,000 cans of nutritious food to the Food Bank, raise awareness of the problems of hunger and inspire more donations to help the food bank meet its goals.
“We are so delighted to once again be involved in Canstruction RI,” said RI Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff. “This event raises awareness of hunger in the state and helps stock our shelves with nearly 30,000 pounds of food. We appreciate all of the hard work and dedication that goes into these incredible sculptures.”
The event also is a competition – locally and internationally. Canstruction (www.canstruction.org) is a national food charity of the design and construction industry that has helped raise nearly 40 million pounds of food since 1992.
The competition features awards selected by a panel of independent jurors. The juried award categories are Best Meal, Best Use of Labels, Structural Integrity and Jurors’ Favorite as well as up to two honorable mentions. Viewers may vote for the local People’s Choice award after photos are posted at www.rifoodbank.org. Voting ends on March 22.
Committee Co-chairman R. Drayton Fair, a partner at LLB Architects, Pawtucket, had as an AIA-RI past president started the Canstruction events in Rhode Island in 2007.
“It’s gratifying to see the strong commitment that our sponsors and volunteers have to assisting the food bank with our Canstruction RI events,” Fair said. “Many of our sponsors have participated multiple times. They all are vitally essential to the success of the exhibit, and we are very grateful for their strong support.”
Participating teams this year included:
•Construction Leadership Council of the R.I. Chapter of Associated General Contractors, Providence;
•Dimeo Construction Co. and Edward Rowse Architects Inc., Providence;
•Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects, Providence; Odeh Engineers, Providence; Parker Construction Co., East Providence; and Herrick & White Architectural Woodworkers, Cumberland;
•Gilbane Building Co. and Brewster Thornton Group Architects, both of Providence;
•LLB Architects, Pawtucket, and Shawmut Design and Construction, Providence; and
•Saccoccio & Associates, Cranston; DiPrete Engineering, Providence; and H. V. Collins Co., Providence.

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