News

PensaCan 2025 was a groundbreaking success, raising the equivalent of 21,558 healthy meals for neighbors in need in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties through donations of food and funds to Manna. Since 2009, the event has provided more than 113,500 healthy meals!

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Florida Northwest again partnered with Manna for this year’s PensaCan: Demolish Hunger, Design Hope. PensaCan is a competition where architectural firms and community amateurs create impressive structures made entirely out of full cans of food. Following a week-long display of the structures at Cordova Mall, all food is donated to Manna for distribution to the hungry neighbors of Northwest Florida.

The teams who participated in PensaCan 2025 were Ascend Performance Materials, DAG Architects | Blu Salmon, Dalrymple Sallis Architecture, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Joe DeReuil Associates, McKim & Creed, Navy Federal Credit Union Account Services III, Nemours Children’s Health, and STOA Architects.

 

A panel of judges voted on the structures on October 4. PensaCan 2025 judges are:

• Andrew McKay, NewsRadio 92.3 Radio Talent
• Brent Lane, Cat Country 98.7 On Air Personality
• Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal Reporter
• Jake Kotick, Hanto + Clarke Project Engineer
• Laura Hussey, WEAR ABC 3, Anchor

 

The public voted for the People’s Choice Award from Friday, October 3, through Friday, October 10.

At an awards ceremony on October 14 held at Culinary Productions Events Venue and Catering, winners were announced in the following categories:

 

Best Nutrition Award – Nemours Children’s Health, Food for Thought

Best Graphics Award – Ascend Performance Materials, Building a Brighter Table

Structural Ingenuity Award – Dalrymple | Sallis Architecture, Harbor Fights Hunger

Best Video Award – STOA Architects, Dinosaur

Most Valuable Award – Navy Federal Credit Union Account Services III, Rising to the Challenge: One Can, One Cause, One Community

Honorable Mention Award – Joe DeReuil Associates, The Saenger Theatre: Setting the Stage to Fight Hunger

Jurors’ Favorite Award – Goodwyn Mills Cawood, In Our Orange Era

People’s Choice Award – Navy Federal Credit Union Account Services III, Rising to the Challenge: One Can, One Cause, One Community

 

PensaCan Composite Sponsors include Ascend Performance Materials, Blu Salmon, Culinary Productions Event Venue and Catering, DAG Architects, Dalrymple | Sallis Architecture, Engineered Cooling Services, Nemours Children’s Health.

For more information about Manna and other events, please visit www.mannahelps.org.