Tuscaloosa students have collected cans for art and a cause.
Today 20 public schools from Tuscaloosa will be displaying student-built structures at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center. Each structure is built entirely from donated cans that were collected at the school.
“What we like about this program is that it becomes a service-learning project because this is a service to our region here by donating these thousands of pounds every year off to the foodbank,” said Jeff Schultz, the fine arts coordinator for Tuscaloosa City Schools. “It puts it right in the hands of the students. This is a student solution to a regional problem.”
The regional problem Schultz is referring to is hunger in western Alabama. According to the West Alabama Food Bank, nearly 60,000 children in West Alabama say their children sometimes skip meals, do not eat for a whole day or go hungry because there is not enough money to buy food for the household.
After the event, the cans will be donated to West Alabama Foodbank. In previous years, this event has raised over 30 tons of food.