2026 Peninsula Canstructure Competition Official Team Registration

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Please read the event details below and complete your team's registration information.

Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR) is supporting the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank by hosting a STEAM competition for students that doubles as a large-scale service project. This design-and-build event allows youth in grades K-12 to test their creativity and problem-solving skills by collecting canned goods and then building a 3-dimensional themed structure from those food donations. Teams are challenged to raise awareness of food insecurity issues in our community, utilize real-world engineering and math skills, showcase their creativity, and demonstrate teamwork in a timed competition.

YVCHR's annual Canstructure Competition generates hundreds of participants and spectators with special guests from various industries and business sectors. Most importantly, it helps stock the shelves of the Foodbank with THOUSANDS of pounds of food! To see highlights from past Canstructure Competitions, please visit YVCHR's event webpage.

As before, middle and high school teams will build and present their designs at Patrick Henry Mall on Saturday, April 25, and each elementary school team will build their Canstructures at their respective school site, with presentations starting the week of April 13th and ending on April 20th.

The theme for 2026 is Building a Brighter Future!
All elementary school Canstructure designs should be completed by Monday, April 13th. Presentations will be scheduled throughout that week; YVCHR and Foodbank staff will visit your students to record their presentations and get group photos of the students with their Canstructure project.
All middle and high school Canstructure teams should be ready to transport their food and supplies to Patrick Henry Mall for the on-site competition on Saturday, April 25th. Empty retail spaces should be available the Thursday prior to the event for those who want to store their food (clearly labeled in boxes) at the mall in advance of the event. Confirmation of retail space availability will be communicated via email.
Teams may begin meeting, collecting food donations, brainstorming their design and preparing their Canstructures as soon as they're registered and have their Google attendance sheet.

The deadline to register your team for the Canstructure Competition is March 2nd.

If you have any questions please contact Katie Morgan (kmorgan@yvchr.org) or Kimberly Moore (programdirector@yvchr.org).

What is the name of your school? (NOTE: If your team is not affiliated with a school, please indicate the name of your faith organization, athletic team, scout troop, etc.) *

What is your team sponsor's name (each team is required to have one adult team sponsor as a point of contact and logistics coordinator)?
*

What is the team sponsor's role (teacher, school counselor, parent)?
*

What is the team sponsor's phone number?
*

What is the team sponsor's email address?
*

What is your team's age level?
*

Grades K-5 (ages 5-10)

Grades 6-8 (ages 11-13)

Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)

Please read and acknowledge the following statements: *

All individual team members in grades K-5 will submit a Canstructure Participant Waiver form by March 30th; the Google form link will be provided in the toolkit.

The team sponsor will utilize the Canstructure Competition Toolkit as a resource to guide the team's progress and infuse service-learning into the Canstructure experience.

All individual team members in grades 6-12 will create a volunteer profile account at https://ydat.org/site/HamptonRoads AND submit a Canstructure Participant Waiver by April 3rd. The links to both YDAT and the Participant Waiver can be found in the Canstructure Toolkit.

All team members' hours will be tracked and reported to YVCHR (Google Sheets will be provided).

Teams must track the number of food donations collected and be prepared to report a total donation count as part of their presentation to the judges.

The team sponsor understands that middle and high school teams will compete at Patrick Henry Mall on Saturday, April 25th with approved adult supervision (e.g.--club sponsor) at all times; elementary teams will build their structures at their school sites with a presentation for judges scheduled the week of April 13th.

All teams are invited to the Awards Ceremony at Patrick Henry Mall on 4/25 at 2:30pm at Center Court.

The team sponsor has permission from the school/organization to compete in the 2026 Canstructure Competition.

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Please include any questions, suggestions or comments below (optional). Please include any additional sponsors here.

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