The exciting conclusion of the story "Local Architects Feed the Hungry" posted last month. On April 25th the annual CANstruction event held by the CT AIA (American Institute of Architects) took place at the Hartford Convention Center. Sculptures were on display until May 8th free to the public. All items went to the CT Foodshare and respective participating communities, including Amazing Grace Food Pantry of Middletown.
Bianco Giolitto Weston Architects teamed with Bielefield Elementary to create a reading themed sculpture out of over 5,000 cans of food! All food was donated by Middletown residents, or purchased with money given by other businesses in the design field as well as several local Middletown businesses. Money was also raised at a bake sale held by Bielefield students & PTA, as well as a raffle and ice cream social at Coldstone Creamery of Middletown in March. Pratt & Whitney of Middletown also volunteered a 30 ft. box truck and crew to help the designers load the items and transport them to the event. Certainly, a homegrown effort!
This year's sculpture was a scene from the book "The Secret Garden." The design, chosen from sketches done by students featured a 8 ft. tree with tree swing. The back side of the structure featured a 10 ft. wall features a garden wall on one side, and a book cover on the opposite side with words "Sow" and "Grow" spelled in cans. While teachers and designers worked on the tall wall, students made flowers out of powdered drink and soup mixes, featured in the foreground of the scene.
Of four prizes given, the team of designers and students went on to take home a prize for "Best Use of Labels." Six other firms participated, down from the eight to ten that have participated in past years when the economy wasn't in such dire straights, and architectural firms around the state weren't forced to lay-off workers. It was a melancholy day for some at the event, who had hoped to see industry acquaintances, found many had become unemployed.
The BGW/Bielefield team had the most items donated, the largest structure over all, and the youngest team. Most importantly, students, businesses of Main St. and elsewhere, City employees, as well as citizens of Middletown did their community proud showing compassion for the hungry and homeless. Middletown most certainly does care about its needy.
4 comments:
I don't understand why you have food not bombs as a tag in your article...a charity event (which is honorable in and of itself) has nothing to do with what food not bombs is about.
The only solution to ending hunger is by ending capitalism, which makes food a source of profit.
To get FNB followers to read the article. To realize we are fighting the same fight. To make critics some of whom have posted comments on FNB articles trashing town people, businesses and city officials claiming they do not care. We do care, FNB is not alone in its goal.
I'm curious to learn why the kitchen of First Church was acceptable to FNB while the kitchen of St. Vincent's was not.
If FNB continues to serve their meals in the North end of town, why not prepare it there - rather than transporting it?
St. vincent depaul was less enthusiastic about having FNB cooking in their kitchen than FIrst church has been. According to one FNBer, hesitation doesn't begin to describe the anxiety in a St. Vincie's voice when FNB tried to get a key to the soup kitchen.
To madamnirvana, while you are right that FNB is fighting the same fight as other anti hunger groups in Middletown, you have to understand that FNB does it in a unique way. The article you wrote above for example talks about a charity event where people bought cans of food for the needy. This charity event is something different from FNB in two big ways.
1) The donated food was bought. This way of obtaining food to give out for free works in the short term, but it has its problems because buying food for someone who is hungry increases the demand for food in the economy, and since we live in a capitalist system based on supply and demand, this increased demand leads to a rise in the price of food, which causes more people to go hungry. FNB doesn't buy cans of food to give away. Instead we realize that there is more food going to waste already than there are hungry people to eat it. It makes more sense to recycle the fresh produce that is going to waste in middletown than it does to pay money for canned vegetables.
2) You ended your article saying Middletown certainly does care about its needy. THats great that middletown cares about its needy, but this is another way in which the charity event described in your post is different from FNB. At FNB our goal is to dissolve the mindset of feeding the needy, because that model of charity reinforces the mindset of one person being a have, and another person being a havenot. In the typical feeding situation, the server may feel the satisfaction of caring for "the needy"(someone who is below them) and the person being served may be reminded that they occupy a less valuable position in the eyes of a classist society.
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