Nearly 5,300 Food and Hygiene Items Collected will Help Reduce Food Insecurity Across Tri-County Region
WATERTOWN — The Northern New York Community Foundation’s LEAD Council is pleased to announce the winners of its second “Canstruction for Northern New York” contest to help reduce food insecurity across the North Country.
Eight teams combined to collect more than 5,200 canned goods and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products that will help restock school-based backpack programs and community food pantries in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. Additionally, the winning teams will share $1,500 in grant awards to present to two different school-based backpack programs that participants selected.
With nearly 1,000 votes cast, Indian River Central School’s entry is 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.
Indian River Middle School Special Education Teacher Kylee Lynch led efforts to rally student participation from each of the district’s buildings in the competition.
“Our community outdid our imagination, as always. With the help of our gracious families, faculty, and staff, we were able to compile over 2,600 items,” Ms. Lynch said. “Students were so excited to build that they were offering any free time they had to help those in need both with collecting goods and creating a structure.”
Students chose the theme of “Diversity” to align with multicultural week in the school.
Ms. Lynch said her students are “extremely excited to have been chosen for two of the awards.”
“Two monetary prizes on top of the abundance of goods donated is incredible and extremely rewarding to all the hard work that was put into this creation,” Ms. Lynch said. “This money will help us continue to serve the families in need within our district.”
Canton Central’s Banford Elementary School is the winner of the “Best Design Award” for its “canstruction” of “We CAN build our ABCs.”
Banford Elementary teacher Cara Coffin said she and her team of young students “felt like this project was a win-win scenario as it would benefit our school and community with all the food items donated going to our BearPack program” while also giving students a “cool experience with a STEAM project.”
“This was definitely a Canton school team effort that challenged our creativity and brought so much good to our students and families,” Ms. Coffin said. “Winning $500 for our BearPack program makes the effort even more worth it.”
Ms. Coffin explained that the team’s alphabet design was a “natural idea for us because it is a huge part of our academic curriculum.”
“Watching first graders strategize together and come up with cool ways to show the letters was the best part. A major bonus with the alphabet design is that it gave our 71 students 26 small sculptures to build; this meant 26 small groups and a high level of student engagement,” Ms. Coffin said. “The students were shocked that their design won, especially when competing against teams with much older students.”
Each of the eight participating teams will donate all items used to build their sculptures to a local food pantry or backpack program. Each award winner will receive a $500 grant for participants to distribute to a nonprofit of their choice.
Indian River students designated the district’s backpack program to receive their collected items. Students also selected the backpack program as the recipient of two $500 grant awards they won for the “People’s Choice Award” and the “Top Collection Award.”
Canton’s Banford Elementary students designated the district’s “BearPack” program, which supports students and families on the weekends, to receive the hundreds of food items they collected as well as the $500 grant for the “Best Design Award.”
Other teams participating in this year’s competition were: Carthage Middle School with “Imagine: Living Life with more peace, love, and happiness;” Clarkson University American Society of Civil Engineers with “ASCE City;” Harrisville Central School with “Go Pirates;” Indian River Intermediate School 5th grade classes with “Earth Can;” Jefferson-Lewis BOCES Hospitality Services Program with “Bacon & Eggs;” and Jefferson-Lewis BOCES New Vision Health, Carthage Central School, with “America.”
“Canstruction for Northern New York” encouraged tri-county students to team up and build a fun, themed structure made of donated canned food and other nonperishable food items or hygiene products to support a local food pantry or backpack program of their choice and help reduce food insecurity across the region.
Participating students had a chance to support essential needs for tri-county residents while learning values of community philanthropy and building school spirit around a project that made a meaningful difference in the lives of others. The project helped raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in local communities and empowered students to collaborate and inspire their school and community.
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 12 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.
The LEAD Council and its grant program are supported through the thoughtful generosity of the Hyde-Stone Charitable Foundation of the Northern New York Community Foundation, Carthage Savings and Loan Association, Morgia Wealth Management, and donors to the Community Foundation’s Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.
