Ninth Annual Jacksonville Canstruction® competition takes place March 1-15 at Main Library

Creativity through the use of cans and non perishable foods will once again be on display at the Jacksonville Main Library March 1-15 as part of the 9th Annual Jacksonville Canstruction® competition benefiting Second Harvest North Florida.

The event brings together professionals from the design, construction and engineering communities who put their talents to use to help make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate. Teams design and build one-of-a-kind structures from nonperishable food items, mainly canned goods, before members of the general public vote for their favorite structure. At the conclusion of the competition, all of the food items are donated to Second Harvest.

Canstruction is a foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA). Similar competitions will be held in cities throughout North America. In addition to the Jacksonville Main Library, other sponsors of this year’s event include the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Futch Printing and Mailing.

“Canstruction” of the colorful, supersized masterpieces will take place on Monday, March 1, and structures will stay on display through March 15, with voting taking place March 3. A Gala Awards Reception will take place on Thursday, March 9, at 5:30 p.m. at the library. The team with the highest number of votes will receive the People’s Choice Award. Local jurors also judge the creations in a variety of other categories – including Structural Integrity, Best Use of Labels, Jurors’ Favorite and Best Meal.

This year’s judges are Wayne Rieley, president and CEO of Second Harvest North Florida; Cheryl Parks, principal production manager at On Ideas; Holly King of AIA Jacksonville; and Larry Wilson of Designmind, LLC.

The five teams competing in the 9th Annual Canstruction are: Bergmann Associates, Gresham Smith and Partners, Haskell, HDR Engineering, Inc. and RS&H Consulting.

The 2009 Canstruction event generated nearly 4,000 pounds of food for Second Harvest North Florida – which equates to more than 3,000 meals for needy families. Second Harvest North Florida redistributes donated food to more than 500 nonprofit organizations helping tens of thousands of people in need in 18 north Florida counties. Nearly two-third of those organizations serve in Duval County. In its eight previous years, Canstruction has helped raise nearly 100,000 pounds of food for those in need in our area.