The great sculptor Michelangelo never used tuna cans as a medium for his sculptures.
A local woman is not only building sculptures using food cans, she is using her project to inspire the community to fight hunger.
LeAnna Buchta, patient care tech at DaVita Newton Dialysis Center, was looking for a innovative idea for the company’s annual wall of fame, which highlights patients and staff at the clinic.
Instead of spending a lot of money on the showcase, Buchta said she wanted to do something that would give back to the community.
Through an extensive Internet search, she came up with the concept of Canstruction.
Canstruction is an organization that conducts sculpture competitions throughout the United States using tin cans full of food.
The food items then are donated to local food pantries.
Although Buchta’s project is not formally associated with Canstruction, she thought the concept could be transplanted to Newton.
Buchta is accepting food donations for two sculptures she is working on at DaVita — one is landscape of the Emerald City from the “Wizard of Oz” and the other is a tornado, made primarily from tuna cans.
“There is $430 worth of food there, and I know it doesn’t look like much,” she said.
Buchta, staff and patients have donated food to the project, as well as Dillons, which donated $88 toward the 20 cases of food Buchta already has put into the project, but she is in need of more donations.
“It doesn’t look much like an Emerald City,” she said. “I need more green beans.”
In addition to the green beans, Buchta also used Del Monte sweet peas, lite pears, whole sweet corn, Kroger peanut butter and ravioli in her Emerald City sculpture.
Buchta spent hours in the grocery store looking for foods the local food pantry not only needed but would fit into her sculpture designs.
However, she said she is not turning down any food. All donations ultimately will end up with the food pantry.
Donations can be made at DaVita from 5 a.m. to 5 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until March 26.
Buchta chose the tornado and “Wizard of Oz” sculptures to match the food driver’s theme, “Newton’s path of destruction — destroying hunger one can at a time.”
In addition, to the can sculptures, Buchta took photos of DaVita staff members and patients and asked them to pretend as if they were frightened by a tornado. She then asked them a series questions for a short profile, which is posted with their pictures.
Although the can sculptures began as a work project, Buchta said she hopes the DaVita food drive will inspire other schools, churches and community groups to do similar Canstruction projects.
“I would hope others would do one too,” Buchta said. “The food pantry said they get a lot of donations at Christmas and Thanksgiving, but donations are small this time of year. They were excited with Easter coming, they would get a good donation.”
