Farmingdale State College Hosts 'Can Castle' Event For LI Cares

FARMINGDALE, NY — Farmingdale State College fraternity and sorority members held "Can Castle" to benefit Long Island Cares for the third year, the food bank announced.

Students compete and build themed structures out of various foods — mostly cans. A food drive is also held by the students as part of the college's Greek Week.

Students donated 23 tons of food to Long Island Cares, more than double what they did last year.
More than 37,000 meals will be provided to the food insecure.

"I am extremely proud of my students for coming together and helping those in need," said Will Finnegan, coordinator of fraternity and sorority life and operations at the college.

The donation came at a "crucial time," said Billy Gonyou, community events and food drive manager of Long Island Cares. Many of the agencies the food bank works with are running low on food, Gonyou said. The donation from the Farmingdale State College students will help feed thousands of people.

"The students at Farmingdale have done an incredible job, both collecting food and creating Can Castle," Gonyou told Patch. "They have donated more than twice the amount as last year. It’s great that college students care so much about food insecurity on Long Island."

Seven groups participated in the event. The themes of the structures – which could be built with up to 1,000 food items - were based on cartoon characters.

Fraternities participating included:

• Alpha Phi Delta- Scooby Doo
• Alpha Sigma Phi- SpongeBob Squarepants
• Kappa Sigma- Looney Tunes
• Tau Kappa Epsilon- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Sororities participating included:

• Delta Phi Epsilon- Powerpuff Girls
• Phi Sigma Sigma- Phineas and Ferb
• Sigma Delta Tau- Kim Possible

The winners were Alpha Sigma Phi for crafting SpongeBob and Phi Sigma Sigma for building Phineas and Ferb.

Judging, based on very specific criteria, was done by staff at LIC and representatives from FSC.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.