“Ignite Your Inner Champion” by participating in ExtravaCANza
During Homecoming week, students can participate in a competition where they create sculptures out of canned goods, which will then be donated to a charity.
Michael Denny and Josh Jacobs of the Human Powered Submarine Club promote their club during ExtravaCANza in 2015. Their submarine sculpture took them about 10 minutes to make. Photo courtesy of Patrick Martin
October 24, 2016
This year Florida Atlantic’s Homecoming theme, Owlympics, encourages students to, “Ignite Your Inner Champion.” During Homecoming week, students can put this into action by participating in ExtravaCANza, an annual event where FAU students can show off their Owl pride while giving back to their community.
According to an email from Lead and Serve Assistant Director Ashley Williams, this will be the eighth consecutive ExtravaCANza to take place since it began in 2009. The event is being hosted by Lead and Serve and Student Government’s Students Advocating Volunteer Involvement program.
The event consists of student organizations and departments forming teams to see which group can create the best sculpture out of collected canned goods.
“Sculptures will be judged based on three areas: 1) FAU spirit and pride, 2) creativity/originality and 3) realistic appearance of the image that participants are trying to create.” Williams said in an email.
All of the non-perishable food items collected for the event will be donated afterward to the charity Boca Helping Hands, a community-based organization and the Beyond Food Program at FAU.
Last year, FAU’s ExtravaCANza event provided the charity with 4,085 pounds of canned goods, which makes about 3,142 meals according to the Boca Helping Hands news and events webpage.
Williams, who has been working at FAU for four years, believes this event is more than just a Homecoming competition — it is also a way to motivate students to give back to their community while showing FAU spirit.
“Students will gain the chance to participate in a festive event that will benefit our community and those in critical need of food,” Williams wrote. “Not only will they have fun and show their Owl pride, but they will gain great satisfaction in knowing that they are able to help the world around them.”
ExtravaCANza is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Boca Raton Social Science Building rotunda from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Jessica Johnson is a contributing writer with the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @jessangst.
