A strong showing by a rookie team from the City of Redmond was enough to knock off tournament veteran Lake Washington Physical Therapy of Kirkland this week in Hopelink’s 7th annual Can Madness competitive food drive. Half of the remaining eight teams represent Redmond, with two also from Kirkland, one representing Bellevue and one in Shoreline.

This week, 16 teams brought in nearly 8,000 pounds of food and more than $3,000 – bringing the tournament total so far to 14,561 pounds of food and $8,949 cash to help stock the agency’s five food banks. The competition will continue with weekly weigh-ins until the winner is announced April 1.

In the third round of the tournament, City of Redmond will square off against OAC Services in Shoreline, while seven-year veteran Hancock’s Bakery of Redmond will face Kirkland’s Hallmark Realty.

Last year’s champion, Xtreme Consulting Group, Inc., of Kirkland, takes on Home Team Real Estate of Redmond. Another Redmond team – Wyndham Vacation Ownership – has their work cut out for them against fellow rookie competitor WG Cells of Bellevue.

The annual 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 advances to the following week. For more information and the full tournament bracket: https://www.hope-link.org/events/canmadness/