Rotarians from both Cornwall-area clubs officially handed over the Rotary Outdoor Gym in Lamoureux Park Thursday afternoon.

Master of Ceremonies Jeremiah Point talked about the very proud sense of volunteerism between the Rotary Club of Cornwall and the Rotary Club of Cornwall Sunrise in getting the project to completion.

It’s been nearly three years in the making with the ceremonial groundbreaking in early December 2015.

“The city came together, saw our kind of dream and helped us make it a reality. Our rotarians from both clubs went out into the community and got people to actually give the money that needed to be taken in to make the project work,” Tom Everson of Rotary Club of Cornwall Sunrise told Cornwall Newswatch.

“A thank you to everyone who’s made it work. There’s a few people sit down and have an idea and to have it come to fruition like this is really very wonderful, it’s what Cornwall is all about,” Everson said.

Roughly 60 club members, politicians and others were on hand for the ribbon cutting.

There is still some fundraising needed for the outdoor gym project.

Roughly $80,000 of the $100,000 project was raised and sponsorship bricks surrounding the athletic facility are still being sold.

This is the first phase of a two-phase project, which could see satellite workout stations along the Lamoureux Park waterfront trail in the future.

Designers, architects, builders, engineers, and service group members donate their time to build incredible structures from cans of food. After the structures are built, the cansculptures® go on display to the public as a giant art exhibition.

For the first time in Cornwall, 6 teams and more than 12,000 cans of food converged at the Benson Centre on April 15th for Canstruction®. The six teams who committed to the challenge are: Bourgon Construction, Professional Engineers Ontario, Rotary Interact Clubs from SLSS and CCVS, Agapè Centre, Kinsmen and WSP/Architecture49 Inc.

At the end of the event, all food is donated to the Agapè Centre, Cornwall’s largest community food bank. In this city alone, more than 1,000 client visits happen monthly. Families, approximately 38 per cent of them children, are using food-relief programs.

Teams began building their cansculptures on Friday, April 15th and worked through the night to have their structures – which can be as large as 10 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft – ready for judging Saturday morning. The Interact clubs from SLSS and CCVS, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Cornwall were the last team finished at 11 pm.

The structures and will be on public display for two weeks, beginning 8:00 a.m. on April 16 through to April 30.

With one can of food as a catalyst for change, Canstruction proves that small acts of kindness improve the lives of people in need. Since 1992, Canstruction has contributed more than 17.5 million pounds of food to food programs around the world, demonstrating that we can win the fight against hunger.

One can make a difference®.

See also Cornwall Seaway News , Cornwall Newswatch

Canstruction FACTS

Proceeds to Rotary Community Projects like the Cornwall Community Hospital chemotherapy unit and the Boys and Girls Club of Cornwall