Local businesses partner with Foodbank of Santa Barbara County for Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown
GOLETA, Calif. – The annual Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown is underway across Santa Barbara County.
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County announced it will partner with eight local companies for this year's showdown.
"I think all of our locations are collecting donations of either non-perishable items or canned food and we’re gonna be collecting that through December 11 and then will be distributing those to the food bank," said regional manager Theresa Cappelletty of Planet Fitness.
The campaign is a six-week charitable competition that runs from Oct. 30 to Dec. 11.
Designed to coincide with the peak of end-of-year and holiday giving, the campaign rallies both large and small companies to become heroes by accumulating points through financial donations, food contributions, social media outreach and volunteer hours.
A total of eight local companies will embark on the six-week-long charitable competition.
The Foodbank’s goal is to raise $50,000.
"Oh, this is giving them what they need at a time that where people mostly usually struggle so we’re able to come alongside and share with them," said Cappelletty.
The following businesses make up this year's Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown teams: Deckers, CIO Solutions, Master Clean USA, Yardi, Amazon, Impact.com, Raytheon, and Planet Fitness.
So far the foodbank is seeing great participation from all the corporate teams in the community.
“The Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown is not just a competition; it’s a shared effort among businesses to address food insecurity in our community," said Jenifer Sanregret, the Foodbank’s Corporate Giving Manager. “Each team brings their specialty to the 'showdown.'”
The community plays an essential role in supporting the teams’ success by either donating to a team’s online fundraising page or making a food donation.
During the 2022 competition, participants collectively volunteered for 141.5 hours, donated 4,232 pounds of food, and raised $41,773.
Individuals are encouraged to support a team by contributing to the cause by going to: foodbankSBC.org/hungerheroes2023/.
