St. Louis is Under CANstruction

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It seems like everywhere you look, someone's doing a canned food drive. The boy scouts bring it right to your doorstep and most grocery stores have big brown barrels o' giving, but now there's a canned food drive that is as fun as it is heartwarming. Starting today, St. Louis is under CANstruction.

As you read this, teams from all over St. Louis will have 24 hours to construct their various masterpieces out of everyday cans of food. According to the people who know these things, once the exhibit is over and the sculptures are dismantled and added to the piles of cans that everyone else has donated during the drive, they will be able to donate around 50,000 cans to area food pantries. That's roughly 78,000 meals, which is no small accomplishment.

Local foodbanks and food pantries say that canned food donations tend to taper off after the holiday season, but that doesn't mean they're needed any less. This charitable stacking and sculpting competition comes at a time where many charities in STL need it the most, so while you're checking out the awesome exhibit, please make sure to add a few cans of your own.

When: It kicks off today (March 6) at 10 a.m., and runs through March 16
Where: St. Louis Mills Mall
Cost: Free, but for Pete's sake, bring cans

That Cards hat was constructed a couple of years ago as an ode to the 2006 World Series Champs, and tops out at 1,820 cans, and this penguin and frog (who has a freakishly long tongue by-the-way), both won honorable mention at last year's CANstruction. I'm hoping that someone tries to build a Ballpark Village sculpture this year. Oh, wait...