OXNARD : Mall ‘Can-Structions’ to Help Fight Hunger

Engineers from GE Plastics built a sailboat this weekend that won’t float. But it will help feed the hungry.

The boat, made of cans of food, was one of three sculptures built at the Buenaventura Mall on Friday night to help raise awareness for Food Share, an Oxnard-based food bank that serves the needy of Ventura County.

Jewel Pedi, the executive director of Food Share, said she got the idea for the “can-struction” exhibit from other members of a national network of food banks.

“We see the event as a win-win proposition,” Pedi said. “The companies involved get the chance for some publicity and we get some attention. And it’s all for a good cause.”

Food Share is a 16-year-old nonprofit organization that has distributed more than 60 million tons of food. Each year, the organizations Food Share supports serve more than 90,000 people throughout the county.

The weekend event is part of a special summer food drive aimed at children. “In the summer, there is a greater need for extra food because the children are not receiving the hot meals they receive in school,” Pedi said.

The sculptures will be judged at 3 p.m. today and then be disassembled so the cans--about 2,000 were used by the three participants--can be distributed. GE Plastics of Oxnard built the sailboat, Shell Oil of Ventura built an oil derrick and Quinn Co., a forklift distributor in Oxnard, built a forklift.