LEAD Council Launches Third ‘Canstruction’ Competition, Invites Student Groups to Participate
Feb 04, 2025 11:14AM ● By Nicole Petrus
WATERTOWN — The LEAD Council of the Northern New York Community Foundation invites local students at tri-county schools and organized student groups in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to participate in a creative and impactful project to help reduce food insecurity across the North Country. The “Canstruction for Northern New York” initiative is back for a third year as a team activity to encourage local students to team up and construct a fun, themed structure made of donated canned food and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products. Collected items are donated to a local food pantry or backpack program of their choice at the end of the competition.
Joining the competition is easy through an online registration at bit.ly/CanstructionRegister. Teams must register to participate by Friday, Feb. 28, and select the local food pantry or backpack program that will receive team donations.
Participating students will have a chance to support essential needs for tri-county residents while learning the values of community philanthropy and building school spirit around a project that makes a meaningful difference in the lives of others. Overall, the project aims to raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in our communities while empowering students to collaborate and inspire their school and community to join the effort.
Examples of canstruction projects may be found on the project web page at bit.ly/CanstructionNNY. Canstruction teams will compete for one of three chances to present a $500 grant to a nonprofit they care about most. A winning team will be named in the following three categories: “Top Collection Award” (most items donated/collected), “Best Design Award,” and “People’s Choice Award” (selected by an online vote). Last year, eight participating teams combined to collect more than 5,200 canned food and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products that helped restock two school-based backpack programs. Winning teams shared $1,500 in grant funding that was presented to the two backpack programs participants selected. Indian River Central School’s entry was the “People’s Choice Award” winner for its sculpture titled “Diversity.” The class also won the “Top Collection Award” with more than 2,600 canned goods and other nonperishable items collected. The “Best Design Award” went to Canton Central’s Banford Elementary School for its “canstruction” of “We CAN build our ABCs.” Backpack programs at each school district received the collected goods.Like previous years, each winning team will award a $500 grant to their chosen federally classified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving residents of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. Contact Max DelSignore, Community Foundation assistant director, at [email protected] for additional guidelines on nonprofit selection.
All canstruction projects must be submitted by Friday, April 4. Complete project rules, including a sample planning calendar with key project deadlines, is available on the project web page at bit.ly/CanstructionNNY. The Community Foundation will provide a follow-up form to each registrant explaining the process for project submissions.
About the LEAD Council
The LEAD Council was chartered in 2014 as advisory committee of the Northern New York Community Foundation empowered to identify and address strategic needs in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. The Council is comprised of 22 young professionals who live and work in the tri-county area with an interest in enhancing the quality of life for all in the North Country. LEAD is an acronym that reflects four important guiding principles of the Community Foundation’s work: Leadership, Engagement, Access, and Direction. The Council works to gain a deeper understanding of community needs, issues, and the nonprofit sector to augment the Community Foundation’s mission and work. Since its inception, the LEAD Council has developed several creative initiatives to benefit the community and region. Strategic efforts include its “LEADing the Way” volunteer program, enhancements to child care and early childhood development programs, hyper-local support for anti-poverty initiatives, community giving challenges, and building philanthropic values in the region’s schools through student-led projects.
