HCC, SAR+ & KL&A are fundraising for Canstruction!

Food Insecurity in Colorado 

• 1 in 7 Coloradans experienced food insecurity in 2024. - Denver Public Health & Environment 
• Food-insecurity rates are even higher in households with children, non-white populations, and those among the LGBTQIA+ populations. 
• Among working-age adults, more than 50% of those 44 years old and younger reported struggling to maintain regular access to food, with those 35 to 44 years old hit the hardest. - Hunger Free Colorado

Food Waste Stats

• 40% of all food produced in the United States is wasted. - USDA
• An average American household throws away about $3,000 worth of food a year. - ReFed
• Food rot in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas between 25-87 times more potent than carbon dioxide. - EPA
• A third of all methane produced in the US is from landfills, making food waste prevention an effective tool for climate change. - EPA
• If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, just behind the United States and China. - WRI

ABOUT CANSTRUCTION COLORADO

Canstruction® Colorado is a city-wide competition in which architects and designers build larger-than-life structures entirely out of canned food, which will be donated to We Don’t Waste and distributed to local nonprofits and directly to individuals experiencing food insecurity at the end of the exhibit. 10,000+ cans of food will be distributed following the exhibit. 

Canstruction® will be on display for four weeks at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where tens of thousands of guests will have the opportunity to stroll through the hallways and admire the unique and creative sculptures. This event aims to raise awareness about local food insecurity while also highlighting the businesses that support their communities and promote access to food.

ABOUT CANSTRUCTION

Canstruction is an international hunger relief charity that raises millions of pounds of food each year for local food banks. Every year, Canstruction chapters have competitions citywide where teams create CanArt® to compete for awards in the following categories: Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, Best Original Design, Most Cans, Best Use of Labels, and People’s Choice awards. Winners from each local competition then go on to compete internationally in these categories.

ABOUT WE DON’T WASTE

We Don’t Waste believes nutritious food should go to people, not landfills. We reduce food insecurity and food waste in the Denver area by recovering quality, unused food from the food industry and delivering it free of charge to food pantries, schools, shelters, and directly to the community through Mobile Food Markets. We also educate our community on the importance of nutrition and reducing food waste to protect our planet, while advocating for increased food access. Since 2009, We Don’t Waste has recovered and distributed more than 260 million servings of food to nonprofit partners and individuals facing food insecurity. 

For more information, visit www.WeDontWaste.org, and follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

History of the Organization 

We Don’t Waste believes nutritious food should go to people, not landfills. We reduce hunger and waste by recovering food from venues, caterers, distributors, and restaurants, then delivering it free of charge to hunger-fighting local agencies in the Denver Metro area. 

We Don’t Waste began modestly in 2009, as founder Arlan Preblud noticed that many nonprofit organizations couldn’t afford quality food, yet nutritious food was being thrown away by restaurants and catering companies throughout the community. Arlan began collecting this unused food in his Volvo station wagon and delivering it to community-based agencies feeding the hungry. Today, We Don’t Waste has grown from that Volvo into a high-impact nonprofit organization with four refrigerated trucks and a 30,000-square-foot Food Recovery Hub that allows us to recover more food and feed more people.

We do not charge food donors or food recipients for our services, meaning We Don’t Waste is reliant on support from the community to fund its vital work. YOU can help We Don’t Waste reduce hunger and food waste in our community! 

Learn more about We Don’t Waste’s work at www.WeDontWaste.org. 

Mission & Vision Statement

Our mission: We in

crease food access and protect the planet by rescuing and repurposing food, while educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste.

Our vision: Food goes to people, not landfills, and is accessible to all.

Impact Stats

• Since 2009, we have recovered and distributed over 260 million servings of food.
• In 2025, We Don’t Waste distributed over 30 million servings of food. This is equivalent to an estimated 10 million meals. 
• In our lifetime, we have prevented the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to driving a car over 80 million miles.
• We Don’t Waste reaches an estimated 750,000+ Coloradans with recovered food each year.
• We receive food from over 300 unique food donors. 
• We serve over 100 nonprofit food recipient agencies.