Boy Scouts Help Fight Hunger
Local architects, designers and engineers gathered last weekend at Pearlridge Center Uptown to create sculptures made entirely of canned food.
At the center’s annual Canstruction, teams compete to build the best sculp- ture on a theme of CANtastic Heroes, and the public can vote for its favorite creation by donat- ing one can of food per vote.
All of the food will later be delivered to Hawaii Foodbank to help feed Hawaii’s estimated 183,500 hungry families and individuals. The event has raised more than 204,000 pounds of canned food to date.
Boy Scouts from around Oahu have joined the cause through the Scouting for Food drive, collecting from neighbors, friends and relatives. This Saturday, the Scouts will drop off their donations at Pearlridge. Among them will be the Cub Scouts from Pack Five-0 ― a large majority of whom attend Island Pacific Academy, as well as Kapolei and Waipahu elementary schools.
“We try to incorporate ‘helping’ situations in our weekly meetings,” explained pack secretary Dawn Smutz de Lugo, whose 8-year-old son Christianno is a member of the group.
This is Pack Five-0’s first year in Scouting for Food, and they hope to collect at least 75 cans per boy. Those who bring in at least that many cans will earn their Scouting for Food badge.
The Scouts also will be learning about issues related to hunger and food insecurity.
“Our den leaders will offer situations regarding who may be in need (and) what events could hinder our food supply on island,” Smutz de Lugo said.
“With the increase in food and gas prices, and the overall economic state, we will see more families struggling to make ends meet.
“We need to make this clear to our scouts at an early age, so they may carry the need to help others with them throughout their lives.”
CANstruction voting continues through Oct. 21. For more information, visit AIAHonolulu.org.
