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2025 United We Can Food Drive & Can Sculpture Contest

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UNITED WE CAN FOOD DRIVE + SCULPTURE CONTEST
September 19, 2025 | Thompson's POINT

Help collect 25,000 meals to address food insecurity in Southern Maine on September 19!

Join United Way of Southern Maine for United We CAN — a one-of-a-kind food drive and sculpture contest that brings our community together to fight hunger.

37% of families in Southern Maine are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed)—working hard but still struggling to afford basics like food.

How you can help:

Build a Can Sculpture

Gather your team, make a plan, and build a monumental work of canned sculpture art! CAN-struction is creative, fun, and a great team-building exercise. Community judges will review sculptures and present five awards, including Small + Mighty, Best Meal, and Best in Show.

Register Your CAN-Struction Team
Drop off Food Donations – 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Drive up, drop off, do good! Bring your donation of non-perishable food to Thompson’s Point and United Way staff will help unload your car.

Sign up to Drop-off Donations
Vote for Your Favorite Can-Struction

Join us at Thompson’s Point to admire monumental CAN-structions created by local companies and cast a vote for the Community Choice Award (onsite only).

  1. Register your team using the form above.
  2. Review the rules for can-struction.
  3. Find inspiration by checking out photos of previous years’ structures: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016
  4. Gather an enthusiastic team and design your entry.
  5. Check out the Most Needed Food Items list for donations most in-demand by our partners.
  6. Let your employees know what food items and quantities you will need. 
  7. Practice building your sculpture so you can work out any problems before the big day.
  8. Join us on September 19 and have a blast constructing your sculpture!
  1. Build any kind of structure — from the simple to the ornate!
  2. Teams may use props, including signage, and supporting materials when building, but structures must be comprised of at least 50% food items and/or basic needs items. The ground should be more level this year, compared to previous contests, but teams are allowed to bring a flat platform to build on top of.
  3. Sculptures must fit within a 10’x10’ space unless otherwise requested.
  4. Collected items cannot be painted, taped, or otherwise altered in a way that makes them unsuitable for donation. You may cover food items with paper as long as it’s taped to itself and removed by your team after the event.
  5. Teams may construct sculptures between 8:00 and 11:00 a.m. on September 19. You may arrive later in morning, depending on how much time you think you’ll need. You are also allowed to arrive earlier than 8:00, but please reach out to United Way to confirm your plans.
  6. A team from your organization is needed to clean up and load food after the event.
  7. Best practices tip! Track and share the following:
    1. # of volunteers
    2. # of materials used, e.g. cinder blocks, plywood, tape, etc.
    3. # of items collected, e.g. 2,000 cans of tuna, 16 jars of peanut butter
    4. Other fun facts.
  • Canned Veggies
  • Cereal
  • Cooking Oil
  • Dried Black, Kidney, or Pinto Beans
  • Flour
  • Kids’ Snacks
  • Macaroni & Cheese
  • Pasta
  • Peanut Butter
  • Rice
  • Soup
  • Sugar
  • Tomato Sauce
We know you’re not doing this for the glory, but this is hard work! We’ll celebrate with a few awards.
  • Small + Mighty Award: Judges will select the best sculpture CANstructed by a small business (employee size up to 99).
  • Rookie Award: Judges will select the best sculpture assembled by a new team (1st or 2nd year).
  • Best Meal Award: Judges will review sculptures for ingredients which would make the best well balanced, healthy meal.
  • Best in Show: Judges will select the best in show based on the design (originality and creativity), craft (balance, proportions, detail, and use of space), and amount of food collected.
  • Community Choice Award: Event attendees will cast electronic votes to determine their favorite.

NOTE: Organizations are eligible to win only one award (with the exception of Community Choice Award).

sponsorship opportunities

Sponsors receive high-value visibility, demonstrate social responsibility, and support United Way’s work to help families thrive.

Lead Sponsor – $10,000 (One available)

  • Recognition as Lead Sponsor in press release, website, digital communications, social media, and marketing materials.
  • Recognition as Lead Sponsor during awards ceremony.
  • Opportunity to sponsor a new or existing award category
  • Logo on onsite event signage (if confirmed by 9/1)

 

Supporting Sponsor – $5,000 (Two available)

  • Recognition as Supporting Sponsor in press release, website, digital communications, social media, and marketing materials.
  • Recognition during awards ceremony.
  • Logo on onsite event signage (if confirmed by 9/1)

 

Food and A/V Sponsor – $2,000 (Two available)

  • Recognition as Food or A/V sponsor in press release, digital communications, and marketing materials.
  • Recognition during awards ceremony
  • Tagged in 2+ event social media posts.
  • Logo displayed on signage near Food Truck or A/V soundsystem (if confirmed by 9/1)
Ask about Sponsorships