By Jonathan Montgomery
Daily Titan Staff Writer

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts’ display “CANnecting to Environmentality” topped the other groups with the most cans donated and used. A model of Earth donning a pair of the famous Mickey ears was made up of 10,000 cans. Photo by Jonathan Montgomery.

“One CAN make a difference.”

This is the slogan of “Canstruction” – a national competition and charity aiming to combat world hunger.
Supported by the talents of the design and construction industry, Canstruction gives teams around the world a chance to compete by designing different structures made entirely out of cans.

This year’s second annual Orange County Canstruction competition was held at the South Coast Plaza, and ended Sept. 27.

Each team around the world had months to plan, but only 12 hours to build their structures.

The displays were judged, awarded and will soon be sent off to local food banks and other organizations aiming to provide for the growing rate of requests for food assistance.

Teams had to raise their own cans, either by sponsorship or hosting their own food drives.

This year’s event brought 10 colorful displays and a total of 50,000 cans to the South Coast Plaza, all of which will be donated to the Orange County Food Bank.

Each team presented their creative ingenuity while simultaneously displaying a positive message.

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising won honorable mention for their display titled “We can heel hunger one step at a time,” which used 3,000 cans. The large red heeled shoe was made of Bumble Bee Tuna cans, black olives, corn peas and chicken broth.

“Health is always in style, thus, all of these ingredients will make several ‘fashionable’ meals,” read their mission statement.

The other nine designs were spread across the mall into different areas and floors.

Although they may have had their own unique designs and focuses, they were all there for the same purpose: to give support to the hunger issues in Orange County.

Louie Garcia, 33, chair of Canstruction in Orange County, said the economy had a definite impact of this year’s competition.

Not only was it harder to get teams to participate, but also the number of people who need assistance is steadily growing, Garcia said.

This year they had to branch out to different companies, still only bringing in 10 teams compared with the 12 teams last year.

“The economy is taking its toll on Orange County,” said Garcia.

According to the Canstruction Web site, the request for food assistance from the Orange County Food Bank has doubled in the past year alone.

“You wouldn’t think Orange County is food insecure, but it is,” said Natalie Newman, judging chair of Canstruction Orange County and last year’s chair.

In fact, “500,000 Orange County residents are currently food insecure,” states the Web site.

This surprising number is not strictly limited to the homeless, but also the elderly, disabled persons, the working poor and the unemployed.

The 50,000 cans collected this year will only provide food for about a week, and the Orange County Food Bank has been limited on supplies recently, said Garcia.

Garcia said some people in Orange County are oblivious to the growing rate of food dependency.

“Some have no idea what is going on with their neighbors next door,” Garcia said. “Hopefully, we are sending a little bit of education out there.”

And with the brightly colored cans and structures placed throughout the mall, the issue is hard to ignore.

Eric Quintana, 28, an architectural intern for Dougherty + Dougherty Architects LLP, said Canstruction is a “fun, creative way to give something back.”

Their piece entitled “Wake Up and Smell the Flowers” features a sleeping Snoopy lying in a bed of green grass and flowers. On the outside, Snoopy is an adored familiar character, but under the surface Quintana said they are aiming to provide a sense of awareness to Orange County residents.

Quintana said there is an invisible threat looming in Orange County when it comes to food assistance. Their design hopes to “wake” people up and realize residents of Orange County hold the power to fight hunger.

One can at a time.