The Joe LeBlanc Food Pantry is inviting local businesses to put their creativity to work for a good cause with “We CAN Make a Difference,” a new canned food sculpture competition designed to fight hunger while encouraging residents to shop locally.
The competition, which will culminate on Small Business Saturday, November 28, will challenge participating businesses to collect canned goods and transform them into sculptures that will be displayed for the public to admire and vote on. All usable food collected will be donated to the pantry, while money raised through voting will support its annual Feed a Family holiday program.
Pantry director Jessica Lewis said the idea came during a recent trip to Dallas, where she encountered a competition organized by the national nonprofit Canstruction at NorthPark Center.
“They had mind blowing canned food sculptures built by local businesses and organizations. Some even hire engineers to help build their sculptures,” Lewis said. “The amount of people that were there looking at those made me think Minden can do this!”
While the Dallas competition featured elaborate creations, Lewis said the Minden event will start small, with plans to expand in future years.
“We are starting small this year with it being our pilot year and we hope to grow it into something much bigger that draws people from other communities to come check out,” she said.
Participating businesses will host food drives and use the collected canned goods to construct their sculptures. The pantry is keeping the rules flexible for the inaugural competition, allowing participants to determine the size and complexity of their creations. Sculptures can be either two-dimensional or three-dimensional.
Lewis said she has no idea what participating businesses might create, which adds to the excitement.
“We just want them to participate this year,” she said.
The competition will also feature a fundraising component. Beginning November 16, the completed sculptures will be displayed at participating businesses, giving community members two weeks to visit the locations and vote for their favorites. Votes will cost $1 each, with proceeds benefiting the pantry’s Feed a Family program.
To encourage residents to visit multiple locations, participating businesses will be featured on a special voting passport. Visitors can have their cards punched at each location, and completed cards will be entered into a prize drawing.
Lewis hopes the activity will introduce residents to businesses they may not have visited before while encouraging holiday shopping in Minden.
“We hope that this draws people into the businesses, encourages them to check out what the stores have to offer,” she said.
The final day of voting will coincide with Small Business Saturday on November 28, providing an additional opportunity to support participating businesses during the holiday shopping season. Winners will be announced November 30.
Businesses interested in participating can begin planning immediately. Each business will receive an information packet and commitment form, which must be returned by October 19. Lewis encourages participants to begin collecting food no later than November 1 to allow enough time to complete their sculptures by November 16.
The pantry itself will also create a sculpture, although it will not participate in the voting competition. Board member Stephen Dickerson is overseeing the pantry’s entry, which Lewis expects will incorporate the organization’s hunger fighter theme.
Following the competition, sculptures will be dismantled in early December, and the collected food will be donated to the pantry for distribution to local families.
The event represents another approach to community involvement for the Joe LeBlanc Food Pantry, which has served food-insecure families and individuals throughout Webster Parish since 2007. The organization distributed 474,000 pounds of food in 2025, relying on donations and volunteer support to sustain its operations.
Beyond collecting food and raising money, Lewis hopes the competition will help the pantry establish a new annual tradition that brings together businesses, residents, and community organizations.
“Ultimately our goal this year is to bring awareness, get people involved and figure out what works and what doesn’t so that when we do this again in the coming years we can build on it each year,” she said.
Businesses interested in participating or seeking additional information can contact Brittany Dickerson at 318-489-8869 or email [email protected]. More information about the pantry is available at joeleblancfoodpantry.org.
