The Inn of the Good Shepherd is excited to once again host CANstruction at Lambton Mall later this month.
Executive Director Myles Vanni said the creative event, which helps stock the shelves of the local food bank, has been missed over the past two years.
"We have 11 teams registered. It's a great event, there's great community spirit so it's so nice to have it back. Also, it has a huge impact on how we can support our folks," said Vanni. "In the last two years, we would have raised about 45,000 pounds of food every year, so that's 90,000 pounds of food we didn't raise, which is almost a $300,000 value."
The current need at the food bank appears to have "stabilized back to more normal levels". On average, Vanni said about 1,850 people will visit the food bank per month.
Any funds raised through CANstruction will also support the Inn's programs. In 2019, $20,000 in cash donations was collected during the competition.
CANstruction launched in 2012, however, due to cancelled events, this year will mark the Inn's ninth build. In the past, Vanni said there have been many memorable sculptures, including a caterpillar and a replica of the "March of Cards" from Alice in Wonderland.
"The teams get really creative about what they build," he said.
In addition to holding the main CANstruction event, the organization has also launched a kid's event to take place at the mall on Friday, March 18. Two build sessions will be held and the top two teams from each build will then be able to recreate their structure during the CANstruction event to be judged for the Outstanding Junior's Award.
Vanni said they decided to host Kid's CANstruction after a similar virtual event was held last year.
"It went really well, we had quite a number of entries and a lot of good feedback from parents about what a great opportunity it was to teach their kids and help them learn about the need in our community."
He also said the event also allowed kids to use other skills such as math, design, and teamwork.
CANstruction will take place at Sarnia's mall from March 25 until April 12. The build date is on March 26 with judging scheduled to take place on March 27.
