By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On October 1, 2024, the Burlington Food Bank celebrated its collaboration with Canstruction with an award ceremony held at Burlington Centre mall.
Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School and Aldershot School participated in the competition, building structures out of non-perishable food items that will be donated to the food bank after the competition.
Notre Dame’s structure was based on the Toronto skyline and is entitled “Towering Support for the Burlington Food Bank” and comprises 1755 cans, along with many other bottles and boxes of food and drink.
Aldershot’s structure was based on the Duolingo logo, entitled “The Duo Baby.” It comprises 900 cans.
Aldershot took home the best use of labels and honourable mention award, while Notre Dame won Structural Ingenuity, Best Meal, Most Meals Raised, and Judges’ Favourite.
The three judges were Andrea Dodd, the executive director of Aldershot Business Improvement Area (BIA), Jordan Del Conte, a project manager for structural engineering at MTE Consultants, and Tania Lee, of the Gift of Giving Back.
Robin Bailey, the executive director of the food bank, gave a short speech after the awards were handed out.
“I just want to thank you guys for all your great work and for raising awareness,” Bailey said. “This being at the mall really helps people think about us as we come into Thanksgiving. And there’s an awful lot of hungry people in Burlington. I’m really thankful for groups like yourselves and for the judges for coming out, and helping raise that awareness of those people who are in our community.”
Bailey said that many people walking by the displays also donated food to the organization.
Bailey said that they first heard about Canstruction through the food bank of Waterloo Region, which has been collaborating with them for many years.
The schools participate in the competition through their respective STEM/STEAM programs or clubs and Bailey said that this collaboration also helps to foster employment opportunities and experience for kids in the programs, as well as letting the entire student body know that the program is very multifaceted.
The event also marks the end of Hunger Action Month alongside raising awareness for the organization going into the busy Thanksgiving season.
Bailey said both schools used items that are of high priority to the food bank.
“I think one of the cool things with both of them is they used items that we actually need at the food bank,” Bailey said. “Diced tomatoes were something that we had to order throughout the summer.”
“Beans, canned vegetables, canned fruit, all those things are things that we are regularly looking for,” Bailey said. “And both teams need to be given great credit for figuring out the things that we needed, and then making sure that the food that we’re getting is really, really useful.”
Last year only one school participated in the event, along with RBC and MTE.
Bailey said that the Burlington Food Bank is also planning another collaboration with Canstruction in the spring, and hopes to involve more schools and businesses.
Krista Kay, the director of marketing and community fundraising at the food bank, commented on the benefits of the competition beyond just raising food.
“This is a great team-building activity as well, for an organization and a business to get people together and think in different ways, being creative, and finding solutions together,” Kay said.
She also echoed Bailey’s comments about visibility.
“Hunger shouldn’t be hidden,” Kay said. “We should always have that conversation, that there are others who are less fortunate than us, and we’re here to help.”
“We were really busy,” Kay said. “We did a lot of advocacy work and getting the word out, not only to the community but also to our elected official partners who are really supportive in this area and really opening up conversations about how we make things better and what else we can do.”
To find out more about the Burlington Food Bank, visit https://www.burlingtonfoodbank.ca/.
