New promotion to assist the food bank

What kind of creation can a bunch of cans and dried goods create? Prior to the launch of CAN-struction, a Tillsonburg Helping Hands Food Bank promotion being run with assistance from Tillsonburg Downtown BIA, BIA Events and Marketing Coordinator Vanessa Fortner, left, and Samantha Hamilton, food bank coordinator, gave the concept a trial run with some of the food bank supplies. (Jeff Helsdon photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

What kind of interesting creations can be made with a few cans and dried goods?

That’s the question a few community-minded local businesses will be asking themselves after they sign up for CAN-struction. This Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank promotion will see businesses that sign on collect donations for the food bank, and then construct something from the donations in an allotted space in the Tillsonburg Town Centre. The public will then vote on which creation they like the best.

Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank coordinator Samantha Hamilton is up front in she stole the idea from the Waterloo food bank, which she toured when she started as coordinator. Seeing the success there, she thought why not try it in Tillsonburg?

“There’s is a little larger but the same idea and it goes on display in the Conestoga Mall,” she said. “They’ve given us a good framework for it.”

Since this is new, Hamilton doesn’t have a goal for how much food she hopes will be collected, but noted eight participating businesses is the maximum/

“Eight companies and the public outreach are my goals,” she said.

Talking more about the public outreach, Hamilton said she hopes to increase the public understanding of how big the food bank is. Demand for the food bank’s service is increasing. Last year, 141,000 pounds of food was supplied, and already 110,000 has gone out the door this year. There are also 30 per cent more new clients.

“We are bursting at the seams in terms of our usage of the space already,” she said. “We’ve only been here a few years.”

Tillsonburg Downtown BIA is assisting by making downtown businesses downtown aware of the promotion.

“The Helping Hand Food Bank is a member of the BIA,” said Vanessa Fortner, BIA Events and Marketing Coordinator. “Like any other business, we stepped in to help their initiative.”

Hamilton is looking after outreach to businesses outside the core to ensure they are aware of the promotion.

When the masterpieces are completed, each will have a sign with the business name, the story behind the build and a QR code so the public can vote during the week of Sept. 22. A panel of judges will then evaluate the creations.

“They’ll consider creativity, structural integrity, and overall impact, with public votes playing an important role in determining the winner,” Hamilton said.

The winner will receive a trophy.