( CNN ) -- Stacking building blocks is a popular way for children to fight boredom . Now stacking food cans has become part of a national campaign to fight hunger . An Atlanta-based organization called Canstruction challenges architects , engineers and volunteers to make sculptures by using cans of food . The late Cheri Melillo founded Canstruction in 1992 in New York after seeing similar exhibits in Denver and Seattle . One year later , she started the first competition in New York . Canstruction coordinates relief efforts with dozens of cities around the United States , from Long Beach , California , to Baton Rouge , Louisiana . The exhibits are held in public places such as malls , convention centers or even state fairs . The idea is that volunteers are able to raise supplies for food banks and simultaneously raise awareness of the problem of hunger throughout the United States . A 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture report estimated there are around 49 million people who live in `` food insecure '' households ( meaning anyone who is at risk of hunger or may not have consistent access to food . ) Of that total , 8.3 million are children . Canstruction has collected more than 25 million pounds of food since its first competition more than 20 years ago . `` It 's important for us that we continue to get the word out , '' said Jennifer Schaefer , chair of the Canstruction competition in Phoenix , `` so people are aware of the hunger issues that we have , not only here in Arizona but across the country because it 's a big issue . '' Judges grade the exhibits on their structural design , attention to detail , creativity and level of difficulty . When the event is over , the cans are donated to local food pantries . `` It 's a really creative outlet for people , '' Schaefer said . `` It 's a huge event , and it 's just a lot of fun for all of us . '' The idea of Canstruction is pretty simple . Making one ? Not so much . Groups of five to 10 people start planning and designing months before the event . They are responsible for finding can labels with colors that match their design as well as raising enough money to pay for them . Canstruction 's motto to solving hunger is `` one can at a time , '' but some projects , such as the Phoenix best use of label winner from 2013 , included as many as 7,000 cans -- all tuna . It was four-sided , one with the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr. , one with Mother Teresa , one with Abraham Lincoln and one with a large QR code . The time limit for building varies . But most groups finish their designs within seven hours , depending on the number of cans and the complexity of the project . Despite the sinuous arcs and bends that seemingly defy gravity , the use of glue , leveling boards and most other foreign objects are prohibited . `` You can use materials for leveling purposes , such as up to a quarter-inch plywood or Plexiglas or cardboard , '' said Sarah Barnard , co-chair of the Syracuse , New York , event . `` But those structures should be self-supporting out of cans . They discourage the use of props of any kind -- not taping eyes onto something but trying to use the labels to create the effect . '' The culmination of months of planning , designing , fund-raising and , finally , building is a completed product of which the `` architects '' can be proud . But what goes up must come down . After a few weeks on display , the cans are `` de-canstructed '' and transported to charity . Like the feeling of slicing up a colorful cake you do n't want to cut into , the emotion of clearing away the cans can be bittersweet . `` It 's a little sad to see all of that hard work come back down , '' Barnard said . `` But since we know that all of the food is going to a great cause , I think it makes it a little bit better . '' Proceeds of the Syracuse event go to the Food Bank of Central New York . Barnard said its workers are happy to have a large donation around the beginning of September . The number of charitable donations spike during major holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas . But the need for hunger relief continues year-round , even after the holiday spirit goes away . `` You always hear the news reports -- the food bank is having trouble or the food bank has a deficit , '' said Jessica Sappington , chair of the Syracuse Canstruction event . Sappington 's modest goal ? `` Maybe one less news report a year that the food bank is struggling . ''
up to 7,000 Americans are `` food insecure , '' U.S. Department of Agriculture report says . Canstruction has collected more than 25 million pounds of food for food banks since 1993 . Some sculpture projects use Around 49 million cans of food . Sculptures are later dismantled , and cans are donated to local food pantries .