Students build Manhattan replica in show of can-do spirit

Students at Andersen Elementary in Newport Beach hustled around the stairs leading from classrooms to the school’s library Wednesday afternoon, carefully stacking thousands of cans of vegetables, fruit and tuna to form a miniature Manhattan.

From the skyscraping Empire State Building to the circular style of the Guggenheim Museum, the can creations in the library aim to replicate the buildings in New York City.

Sixth-grader Eli Zublin helped build the Empire State Building, the focal point of the skyline.

“It took awhile — longer than I expected,” the 11-year-old said. “But it looks good.”

Andersen Elementary conducts canned-food drives for charity each year in concert with other Newport Beach elementary schools. Last year, Andersen parents and staff decided to enlist a group of students to help build a castle of cans before they donated them.

This year, the school upped the ante, enlisting 18 fourth- through sixth-graders to help build the New York skyline.

The school began collecting canned foods at the beginning of last week to donate to Thomas House Family Shelter, a Garden Grove-based nonprofit that assists homeless families throughout Orange County.

By Monday, the day scheduled for sorting the cans into groups, students had collected nearly 3,200 cans of fruit, pasta, vegetables and meat — a record for Andersen.

“These kids are lucky and blessed to have the lives that they do,” said parent Lori Logan. “We want them to be aware that just a few miles away people often live very differently.”

The students were selected based on their behavior throughout the school year, Principal Shannon Bray said.

“We told them the more cans they brought in, the bigger their buildings could be,” Bray said. “Now students realize that not everyone goes home and sees a pantry or refrigerator full of food.”

While students assembled the structures, parent volunteers helped cut out pictures of billboard advertisements and taped miniature traffic lights to strands of string to be hung between buildings, creating a more realistic picture of bustling city life.

Bray said the project is one of the ways Andersen students focus on giving to their community. Last month, the school collected socks to contribute to Nordstrom’s annual shoe donation.

Sixth-grader Avalon Baltera, 12, helped tape together pieces of black construction paper to replicate a road.

“It’s special for me to be able to help others,” she said. “There are so many children that go hungry every day.”

Parents will be invited to view the finished product during the school’s flag-deck announcements Friday morning.