USVI Corporations Have a “Can Do” Attitude

Loading up on cans for Canstruction® 2013.

Loading up on cans for Canstruction® 2013.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CaribPR Wire, ST. THOMAS, USVI, Thurs. Nov. 28, 2013: Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when the community opens their hearts and wallets to help their less fortunate neighbors. Leave it to advertising professionals to come up with a clever way to collect food for the hungry.

The Caribbean Advertising Federation is hosting the territory’s first-ever Canstruction event in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Canstruction® is a competition that pits corporate teams against each other to create the best sculpture made entirely of canned foods. The works of canned art are judged, exhibited to the public, and then dismantled and distributed to Catholic Charities of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Salvation Army and Family Resource Center.

The competition is being hosted at Tutu Park Mall in the former FYE store this Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“Just look for the store with truckloads of canned foods,” said Renae Quinton, President of the Caribbean Advertising Federation. “Also look for the corporate banners. We are very pleased that major corporations are choosing our Canstruction project to help the community and have fun doing it.”

Scotiabank’s sculpture alone will consist of more than 1,200 cans. Sadie Clendinen, Marketing Manager for Scotiabank is looking forward to this “uncanny” event.

“The employees of Scotiabank conduct a food drive every year. This is a different and very visible way of bringing community attention to the fact that we have hungry families right here on St. Thomas. We are making sure everyone on St. Thomas has a healthy holiday meal and having a great time doing it,” said Clendinen.

There is no admission fee to watch the Canstruction event and cheer on your favorite corporate team. Scotiabank, Choice Wireless®, MLB Creative and the V.I. Daily News will be vying for the best use of labels and structural design. You can vote for your favorite sculpture by donating one can of food, so bring a bag to donate and vote multiple times.

The Caribbean Advertising Federation is a division of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the largest advertising organization in the United States providing a professional conduit for networking, resource sharing and to promote member businesses. Current President, Renae Quinton from Barbados said “Our local leadership headed by MLB Creative has done a great job in collecting thousands of cans of food worth thousands of dollars. I would also like to thank Plaza Extra for providing our builders with a discount on the canned goods and TuTu Park Mall for the competition space.”

About Canstruction®

Canstruction® was founded in 1992 to help promote the design community and raise food hunger relief efforts. Canstruction® has held events in over 140 cities worldwide donating over 15 million pounds of canned food to alleviate the plague of hunger and malnutrition.