Contact:  Matt Dace
(314) 423-6100, ext. 102

LOCAL FIRMS RECEIVE NUMEROUS NATIONAL AWARDS FOR FIRST ANNUAL CANSTRUCTION® COMPETITION

St. Louis Takes Home Three of the Six Awards Granted

Inaugural Event Benefited the St. Louis Area Foodbank
and the Jewish Food Pantry

- pictures of winning structures below -

ST. LOUIS (June 07, 2001) – Local architectural firms recently received national recognition during the 5^th annual national CANSTRUCTION® awards competition.

The local event, held on November 9 – 16, 2000 at Saint Louis Galleria, was a tremendous success and featured eight competing structures made solely from assorted canned and dry food products. After winning the local competitions, the structures traveled on via slide photography to compete nationally against thirty-six other cities in the United States and Canada. They were judged on May 16, 2001 in Denver, Colorado, during the joint national conventions of the Society of Design Administration (SDA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The winners were announced at the May 19^th Annual Awards Banquet of the SDA at the Oxford Hotel in downtown Denver. The jury, comprised of prominent Denverites, included architects, engineers, artists and hunger activists, recognized the following local firms with national awards:

The remaining three awards were designated as follows:

• Structural Integrity: "Japanese Tea House," Nadaskay Kopelson Architects, Newark, NJ.
• Best Meal: "Reel’ly Big Recipe," Small Akane Architects, P.A., Raleigh, NC.
• Honorable Mention: "A-Nile-Ate Hunger," Butler Rogers Baskett Architects, P.C., New York, NY.

The nearly 28,000 pounds of food used to build all eight local structures benefited the St. Louis Area Foodbank and the Jewish Food Pantry. That total poundage was the most ever collected for a first time CANSTRUCTION® event in its five-year history.

Plans are already set for the second annual CANSTRUCTION® competition. A November 6^th – 13^th, 2001 date has been determined. The structures will again be built throughout the Saint Louis Galleria and the event will continue to benefit the St. Louis Area Foodbank and the Jewish Food Pantry.

For more information, and to see pictures of all competing structures, please click here.  For more information about the national competition, please visit www.canstruction.org.

THE JEWISH FOOD PANTRY IS A DIVISION OF JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES AND SERVES THOSE IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE THROUGHOUT THE WEST COUNTY AREA.