Homecoming week event collects canned food for charity

This year is the 10th anniversary of the “ExtravaCANza” event, where students donate canned goods and make them into sculptures before giving them to charity

The canned food was later donated to Boca Helping Hands and FAU’s Beyond Food program, which are charities that help feed people in need. Photo by Emma Saunders

Farhan Chowdhury, Contributing Writer
November 7, 2018

FAU’s 10th annual “ExtravaCANza” event yesterday featured 16 different student organizations collecting canned food for local charities as a part of the Homecoming week festivities.

But the event also featured a twist — teams of students in the Social Science building’s lobby built sculptures out of the canned goods in a friendly competition. Each group had 30 minutes to make their creation, and the cans were disassembled and donated to charity after the event, which was hosted by Students Advocating Volunteer Involvement (SAVI) and FAU’s Weppner Center for LEAD & Service-Learning.

A group of students decide how to arrange their cans to make a sculpture. Photo by Emma Saunders

SAVI took the lead in connecting with different organizations across campus, encouraging them to sign up, according to Associate Director for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning Aaron Hackman. Some organizations that participated were the Asian Student Union and Greek life sorority Phi Mu.

The teams were only given 30 minutes to build their sculptures, so they had to work fast. Photo by Emma Saunders

The cans were later donated to Boca Helping Hands, a local charity that provides food, medical aid, and financial assistance to community members in need, and FAU’s Beyond Food program, which allows students to pick up a ration of nonperishable food once a month.

Farhan Chowdhury is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].