‘CanStructure’ Built For Good Cause

One “can” make a difference. That was the motto of Friday’s event at Insights Science Museum in Central El Paso. After almost two decades and competitions in 140 cities around the world, CanStruction came to the Sun City.

Teams comprised of engineers and engineering students collected canned goods to create football-themed sculptures for a good cause. All of the canned goods and proceeds from the event will be donated to the First Lady’s programs to feed the homeless.

“It’s very gratifying,” said competitor Alexandra Caldere.

Caldere went “can-crazy” for her participation in El Paso’s first annual CanStruction event.

“It was so much fun,” said Caldere. “It took a lot of work. It took a lot of building, re-building, putting back in boxes and actually going to Walmart. I’m probably their number one customer, buying all of these cans of tuna.”

Caldere is part of a team of students from the UTEP Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, who competed to create a can-masterpiece. Caldere and team-mate Johnathan Tavarez considered the can’s shape and color when it came to constructing their version of the Sunbowl.

“(We used) so many different types of cans,” said Tavarez. “We used different colors, and we tried to structure it the best way possible so it could be self-standing.”

But to Tavarez and his teammates the project was more than just a way to prove their engineering prowess.

“It feels good to be able to use our creativity to sort of just build something,” Said Tavarez. “As engineering students we’re always trying to build something, to fix things, so it was really good to apply our skills to as good as a cause as this.”

The Atlanta-based CanStruction has donated more than 15 million pounds of canned goods since its creation in 1992, making the organization one of the largest contributors to food banks in the world. The sculptures will be on display at Insights Science Museum starting Saturday and ending October 15th.