Citywide Competitions

How It Works

Canstruction is an international hunger relief charity that raises millions of pounds of food each year for local food banks. Every year, Canstruction chapters have competitions citywide where teams create CanArt® to compete for awards in the following categories: Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Best Original Design, Most Cans, Best Use of Labels, and People’s Choice awards. Winners from each local competition then go on to compete internationally in these categories.

To start a citywide competition in your city, you’ll need to register your event with us. You'll then be responsible for:

Organizing the event
Purchasing canned food
Creating and designing structures
Donating food to a local food bank

Registering

ANY organization is eligible to host a Canstruction competition including but not limited to associations or companies of the design/build industry, food banks, pantries, charities, malls, and civic organizations. The most important thing is having a CAN Do

Canstruction, Inc. is 501(c)3 U.S. non-profit charity. All Program fees paid to Canstruction, Inc. are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law and go towards overhead expenses and helping expand the work we do. If your city chapter doesn't have a 501c3 USA tax exemption for sponsors, ask your local food bank if you can use their tax exempt ID as part of your Canstruction competition.

You can register here. Registration costs $500 annually.

Upon registering, you will receive the following event support materials for hosting your local competition:

Six (6) Citywide Competition Engraved Awards to present to the winner of these categories: Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Best Original Design, Most Cans, Best Use of Labels, and People's Choice.
Canstruction's Official Competition Manual which includes planning materials, rules & regulations, general guidelines, planning checklists, judging score cards, etc. The manual takes you through every part of the process like recruiting teams and sponsors, logistics, fundraising, and marketing.
Canstruction's Branding Style Guide which provides graphics and branding materials (ads, signage, posters, banners, stationary), logos, fonts, color options, etc to create posters, signs, press collateral for promoting your citywide competition.
Canstruction HQ Website Calendar listing of your citywide competition dates, location, etc to help promote your event.
Customer support from our National Headquarters

Finding Competitors

To find teams who would be interested in participating in your Canstruction event, reach out to local engineering, architecture, and construction firms and organizations. For example, you can ask your local AIA (American Institute of Architects) chapter to send out an email blast to their members about the event with information on how to sign up and why it would benefits firms to participate.

Purchasing Food

Each citywide chapter is responsible for purchasing their own food. Some chapters require teams to provide their own food. Others hold food drives, raise money to buy food at a discount from distributors, or ask for donations from grocery stores and other food distributors in exchange for publicity.

For example, some cities purchase food ahead of the event and then obtain sponsors who advertise at the Canstruction exhibit. Alternatively, they may ask for donations when people come to view structures asking visitors to make a donation in a box next to their favorite sculpture in order to cast their vote for the winner of the People’s Choice award.

Your local food bank or hunger organization can be a vital asset in helping organizing these events. Food banks often get food at a discounted price from distributors and have prior experience marketing their causes and generating PR.

The official citywide competition manual explores these topics in depth with suggested sponsors, PR opportunities, fundraising, and marketing ideas.

Hosting the Event

Upon registering you receive access to the official Canstruction manual and corresponding materials. These materials will work as a roadmap that guide you through every part of the process of creating an event from start to finish including how to:

Select a venue to display structure
Recruit judges, teams, and sponsors
Obtain canned food
Fundraise
Market the event
Organize the event
Score structures
Craft speeches
Submit to the international competition
And more!

International Competitions

Winning cansculptures from each Citywide Competition go on to compete through digital submittal to our International Competition. Photographs of the international winning structures are posted on our website and social media for one year. Citywide Chapters are required to submit competition results using this link.