{"id":7388,"date":"2025-04-15T17:43:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T17:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/?p=7388"},"modified":"2025-04-15T17:43:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T17:43:04","slug":"canstruction-winners-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/canstruction-winners-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Foundation\u2019s LEAD Council Announces Winners of Third \u2018Canstruction\u2019 Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 6,000 Food and Hygiene Items Collected will Help Reduce Food Insecurity<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>WATERTOWN \u2014 <\/b>The Northern New York Community Foundation\u2019s LEAD Council is pleased to announce the winners of its third \u201cCanstruction for Northern New York\u201d contest to help reduce food insecurity across the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Nine teams combined to collect more than 6,000 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>With nearly 600 votes cast, Carthage Middle School\u2019s Builders Club & Student Government<\/b> entry is the \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d winner for its sculpture titled \u201cLet Your Love Flow.\u201d The class also won the \u201cTop Collection Award\u201d with 3,219 canned goods and other nonperishable items collected.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Carthage Middle School Classroom Teaching Assistant Alicia Anderson led efforts to rally student participation from each of the district\u2019s buildings in the competition. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Ms. Anderson said her students embraced the challenge and held a competition to motivate classes throughout the school to help collect food and hygiene items for use in their sculpture.<\/span><\/p>\n\\\"\\\"\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWorking on canstruction this year was a lot of fun. Our club made posters to get everyone involved and we had a competition to get students excited. Almost every classroom participated, and our top three classes each collected more than 300 cans,\u201d eighth-grade club members Finn Anderson<\/b>, Kyle Schardt<\/b>, and Catherine Wilay<\/b> said. \u201cIt feels good to know that we are able to help the community and that our whole school was involved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>South Jefferson\u2019s Junior National Honor Society<\/b> is the winner of the \u201cBest Design Award\u201d for its \u201ccanstruction\u201d of \u201cWalk a Mile in Someone Else\u2019s Shoes.\u201d The sculpture of a giant Converse sneaker challenges observers to put themselves in the shoes of our neighbors in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>South Jefferson Instructional Coach and Junior National Honor Society co-advisor Leslie Robare<\/b> said it was \u201ctruly inspiring\u201d to watch \u201cstudents take full ownership of the Canstruction project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\\\"\\\"\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey tapped into their creativity, collaborated, and designed something incredible,\u201d Ms. Robare said. \u201cNone of it would have been possible without the generosity of our community, which always comes together to support our can drive and our students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Each of the nine participating teams will donate all items used to build their sculptures to a local food pantry or backpack program while award winners will each receive a $500 grant for participants to distribute to a nonprofit of their choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Carthage Middle School\u2019s Builders Club & Student Government<\/b> students designated the district\u2019s \u201cComet Closet\u201d 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 \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d and the \u201cTop Collection Award.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>South Jefferson\u2019s Junior National Honor Society<\/b> students designated the district\u2019s Backpack 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 \u201cBest Design Award.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Other teams participating in this year\u2019s competition include: Clarkson University\u2019s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Chapter<\/b> with \u201cGolden Knight;\u201d Exceptional Kids and Family Therapies<\/b>, Evans Mills, with \u201cMonth of the Military Child;\u201d North Country Children\u2019s Museum<\/b>, Potsdam, with \u201cAngry Betty;\u201d South Jefferson Central School\u2019s JCC Edge Class<\/b> with \u201cTogether we CAN stop childhood hunger;\u201d Thousand Islands Central School\u2019s National Honor Society<\/b> with \u201cThousand Islands Pride;\u201d Watertown City School District\u2019s Sherman Elementary<\/b> with \u201cSherman Sharks;\u201d and Watertown City School District\u2019s Wiley Intermediate School<\/b> with \u201cWatertown Can-Dium!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCanstruction for Northern New York\u201d 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. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Participating students had a chance to support essential needs for tri-county residents while learning <\/span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the LEAD Council<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The LEAD Council was chartered in 2014 as a Community Foundation advisory committee empowered to identify and address strategic needs in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties while making meaningful investments through community grants and volunteerism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The Council is comprised of 22 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\u2019s work: Leadership, Engagement, Access, and Direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The Council works to gain a deeper understanding of community needs, issues, and the nonprofit sector to augment the Community Foundation\u2019s mission and work. Since its inception, the LEAD Council has developed several creative initiatives to benefit the community and region. Strategic efforts include its \u201cLEADing the Way\u201d 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\u2019s schools through student-led projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The LEAD Council and its grant program are supported through the thoughtful generosity of the Hyde-Stone Charitable Foundation<\/b> of the Northern New York Community Foundation, Carthage <\/b><\/span>Savings and Loan Association<\/b>, Morgia Wealth Management<\/b>, and donors to the Community Foundation\u2019s Friends of the Foundation Community Betterment Annual Fund<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Northern New York Community Foundation<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>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.<\/p>\n

\\\"\\\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 6,000 Food and Hygiene Items Collected will Help Reduce Food Insecurity \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 WATERTOWN \u2014 The Northern New York Community Foundation\u2019s LEAD Council is pleased to announce the winners of its third \u201cCanstruction for Northern New York\u201d contest to help reduce food insecurity across the region. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Nine teams combined to collect …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["type-post","category-recent-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nnycf.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}