VIRGINIA, Va. — Community members in Hampton Roads collected thousands of cans to help defy hunger.
But before they stock the shelves of a local food bank, the teams have to build structures that defy gravity.
This unique charity is called the Can-struction Design and Build Competition. It's a community service project with a creative twist.
Over the last 23 years, the food bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore says the competition has provided them with 600,000 pounds of food.
Mallory Reckling with the food bank says the need increases every day.
"The need has continued to rise. This competition, in particular, comes at a critical time our sorting room right now is bare and empty," said Reckling.
Reckling says the rate of inflation has forced many families to turn to food banks.
"Our lines are 30% longer but we are also distributing 30% more food to keep up with the demand.
Professionals in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry had eight hours to build a massive structure inside the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.
These designs have to be a certain size and teams had to raise their own money for the canned non-perishable food.
"They can't use any adhesives like tape or anything like that one of the rules is that they have to cover the floor to maintain the quality of the site," said Reckling.
Among the competitors was Jennifer Klages and her team from AECOM, an engineering firm. Their colorful design connects hunger and education.
"We decided to build a box of crayons a glue bottle and an eraser. Our theme is 'You Feed a Child You Feed the Future,'" said Klages.
Klages says getting all their cans was more of a challenge than the can-struction of the build.
The team says they made large orders for these cans with specific colors.
Klages says some stores thought the large orders were a mistake at first.
"We did eventually get the order but we were having trouble getting the same type of diced tomato cans," explained Klages. "We wanted the label to look the same and we also had an issue with the delivery from the big box store they didn't have anyone to deliver our green beans," said Klages.
While this competition forced Klages and her team to think outside of the box, it was for a good cause.
These designs are on display for two weeks inside the mall. After that, they'll be displayed on the food banks' shelves.
