Hopelink Can Madness competitive food drive features 17 Redmond teams

Published 3:40 pm Monday, March 2, 2015

The odds are good that a Redmond business will take home the trophy in Hopelink’s 6th annual Can Madness competitive food drive this year, with more than half of the 2015 teams from this area.

A full slate of 32 local businesses from Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, Shoreline, Seattle and Renton are set to compete in the food drive to help stock the agency’s five food banks — including defending champion Redmond Physical Therapy and 13 rookies. The first weigh-in will take place Friday and the competition will continue until the winner is announced April 3.

The drive is patterned after the national spring college basketball tournament, matching businesses in weekly competitions to see which can bring in the most food. Teams are bracketed together in pairs and one winner from each two-member bracket will advance to the following week.

To ensure that businesses of all sizes are able to compete on a level playing field, the competition uses a unique scoring system that divides the number of pounds of food collected each Friday by a denominator that reflects the size of the business.

The drive offers a way for local businesses to help bolster Hopelink food banks during the time when holiday donations traditionally taper off. Last year, 32 businesses in Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue and Shoreline collected nearly 30,000 pounds of food and almost $3,000 in cash during the five-week, single-elimination tournament.

Redmond teams:

180 Degrees Chiropractic

CrossFit Fuse

Dace’s Rock n’ More Music Academy

Falco Sult and Company

Flying Saucer Pizza

Hancock’s Bakery

Home Team Real Estate

JJ Mahoney’s

Kumon Math & Reading Center

McDonald’s Book Exchange

Minuteman Press

Redmond Physical Therapy

Redmond Rotary Foundation

Super Jock n’ Jill

Universal Avionics

VCA Redmond Animal Hospital

Windermere Real Estate