Canstruction winning teams donate canned goods to North Country food banks
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) – The Northern New York Community Foundation's LEAD Council has announced the winners of its third 'Canstruction for Northern New York' contest to assist in reducing food insecurity in the North Country.
North country evening weather: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Work on Carthage bridge project starts
Pressure grows on Trump administration to return wrongly deported man
After 34 years at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, zoo's director plans to retire
Applications open for NYS cooling assistance program
NNYCF said nine teams combined to collect over 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 the Tri-County area. Additionally, the winning teams will share a $1,500 grant award to present to two different school-based backpack programs that participants selected.
With almost 600 votes cast, Carthage Middle School's Builders Club & Student Government entry is the 'People's Choice Award' winner for its sculpture titled 'Let Your Love Flow.' The class also won the 'Top Collection Award' with 3,219 canned goods and other nonperishable items collected, according to NNYCF.
Alicia Anderson, the classroom teaching assistant at Carthage Middle School, spearheaded the initiative to encourage student involvement in the competition from every building in the district. According to Anderson, her pupils accepted the challenge and organized a contest to encourage classrooms across the school to assist in gathering food and hygiene supplies for their sculpture.
Lawmakers call for cardiac emergency response plans in schools
'Working 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,' eighth-grade club members Finn Anderson, Kyle Schardt, and Catherine Wilay said. 'It feels good to know that we are able to help the community and that our whole school was involved.'
South Jefferson's Junior National Honor Society is the winner of the 'Best Design Award' for its 'canstruction' of 'Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes.' The sculpture of a giant Converse sneaker challenges observers to put themselves in the shoes of our neighbors in need, said the Community Foundation.
South Jefferson Instructional Coach and Junior National Honor Society co-advisor Leslie Robare said it was 'truly inspiring' to watch 'students take full ownership of the Canstruction project.'
NYS schools experience second consecutive day of state testing disruptions
'They tapped into their creativity, collaborated, and designed something incredible,' Robare said. 'None of it would have been possible without the generosity of our community, which always comes together to support our can drive and our students.'
Each of the nine 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.
Rock Charitable Fund awards $148,460 to 11 NNY nonprofits
Carthage Middle School's Builders Club & Student Government students designated the district's 'Comet Closet' 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.'
South Jefferson's Junior National Honor Society students designated the district's 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 'Best Design Award.'
Other teams participating were:
Clarkson University's American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Chapter with 'Golden Knight;'
Exceptional Kids and Family Therapies, Evans Mills, with 'Month of the Military Child;'
North Country Children's Museum, Potsdam, with 'Angry Betty;'
South Jefferson Central School's JCC Edge Class with 'Together we CAN stop childhood
hunger;'
Thousand Islands Central School's National Honor Society with 'Thousand Islands Pride;'
Watertown City School District's Sherman Elementary with 'Sherman Sharks;' and
Watertown City School District's Wiley Intermediate School with 'Watertown Can-Dium!'
NNYCF's Sawyer Community Fund helps improve safety for Western Town Library patrons
'Canstruction for Northern New York' encouraged tri-county students to team up and build a 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 reduce food insecurity across the region.
Participating students had a chance to support the needs of tri-county residents while learning values of community philanthropy and building school spirit. The project helped raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in local communities and empowered students to collaborate and inspire their school and community.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Photos: S.F. Juneteenth Parade a joyful celebration of Black freedom and heritage
The third annual San Francisco Juneteenth Parade enlivened Market Street on Sunday with an array of floats and performers, united by the theme of Black pride. A dozen block parties were in full swing through the duration of the parade, from the Embarcadero to Civic Center. The parties featured children's activities, a car show, games, giveaways, line dancing, musical performances and dances. San Francisco's parade was one of many events around the Bay Area this month celebrating Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation more than two years earlier. President Joe Biden declared June 19 a federal holiday four years ago, though his successor, President Donald Trump, did not sign a proclamation celebrating Juneteenth this year. Trump, who has sought to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies nationwide, has said the U.S. has 'too many non-working holidays' and that they harm the economy. Regardless, the mood was celebratory and upbeat Thursday during the Hella Juneteenth Festival at the Oakland Museum of California, where hundreds of people enjoyed live music, food and drinks while acknowledging the added significance of the holiday this year under Trump. Last weekend, San Francisco's Fillmore neighborhood celebrated Juneteenth with a party spanning eight blocks featuring performers, vendors, games and a fashion show.
Tom's Guide
20 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
'The Life of Chuck' star discusses screening film with director Mike Flanagan, his favorite performances from the Stephen King adaptation and more
"The Life of Chuck" is a 2025 summer movie I've long been anticipating. Directed by horror icon Mike Flanagan, this movie is adapted from a Stephen King short story about a man, Chuck (Tom Hiddleston), whose death seems to coincide with the end of the year, it won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and since then, it's been on my radar as a potential Oscar contender. But it only just debuted in the U.S. earlier this month, with select theaters premiering it on June 6 and a wide release on June 13. That made it one of seven must-watch movies to come out on June 6, and it also means you might not have yet had a chance to see it. Lucky for you, I managed to sit down with "The Life of Chuck" star David Dastmalchian. He plays a grieving parent named Josh in the film, and I got to talk to him about the movie — which, for the record, I saw and loved — and why it needs to be the next reason you go to your local cinema. Now, while "The Life of Chuck" might not be a familiar name to you, Mike Flanagan probably is and Stephen King almost certainly is. And if you know anything about those two, you'd likely go into this movie expecting an eerie horror/thriller. It was a really special night, and there was not a dry eye in the house." But that's not what this movie is about. Instead, it's a deeply emotional film, at times uplifting and at times heartbreaking. So I wasn't entirely shocked to learn that when Flanagan screened the movie for some close friends, including Dastmalchian, it made several members of the cast and crew tear up. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "I cried twice when I saw the movie for the first time," Dastmalchian recounted. "[It] was at Mike's house. He showed a group of us close friends from the game night, showed us "[The] Life of Chuck," and we also, that same night, watched [writer/director] Bryan Fuller's [upcoming movie] "Dust Bunny." It was a really special night, and there was not a dry eye in the house." As for what made Dastmalchian tear up? An incredible performance from Matthew Lillard in the first act of the movie. "When Matt Lillard tries to, you know, encapsulate what it is that's going on with him and why things are starting to feel almost pointless in the day-to-day activities of what people are trying to do. It's such a beautiful speech. It's such a beautiful moment. And I just, I don't know, that's one that will always stand out, very special in my mind." Lillard's performance isn't the only one to watch in "The Life of Chuck" — though it is incredible. In fact, I don't think that there's a single bad performance in the movie, something Dastmalchian was quick to agree with me on. "Every single performance, from Rahul [Kohli] to Sam [Sloyan], Karen [Gillan], it's just a wealth of incredible, incredible work." But when I pressed Dastmalchian for a performance that stood out above the rest, he had a clear answer, and one I couldn't argue with, having seen the film myself. "Chiwetel [Ejiofor], in many ways, carries this film. Dastmalchian declared as I nodded in agreement. "I know that Tom [Hiddleston] is Chuck, and Tom embodies Chuck. And what he does is so wonderful, and it's like a centerpiece of the film. But Chiwetel really carries on his shoulders the weight of what's happening in the world." The Olivier Award-winning actor was also Dastmalchian's scene partner for the film, and as David was quick to point out, that was an incredible experience in its own right. "He's the person in these moments of consultation and conversation with characters like mine, like Karen's, like Matt's, and — my god — can I just say what an incredible scene partner that guy is? Like when I got to give that monologue about the internet and Pornhub and all that stuff, as silly as some of that is, it's also very heartbreaking. And getting to make eye contact with such a fine and deep, resonant actor was really cool." As I already mentioned, "The Life of Chuck" stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles "Chuck" Krantz, whose death seems to coincide with the death of the universe. The story is told in reverse chronological order, starting with the end of Chuck's life and working its way back to Chuck's childhood as an orphan living with his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara). Alongside Hiddleston, the movie also stars Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak and Cody Flanagan as younger versions of Chuck. Watch 'The Life of Chuck' in theaters now Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made. Here's what he's been watching lately:
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Singer of popular 2000s rock band bans Trump supporters from coming to gigs
Singer of popular 2000s rock band bans Trump supporters from coming to gigsSource: Ronnie Winter
