Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Launches Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown 2023

Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service.

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is proud to announce the commencement of the 2023 Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown, a six-week charitable competition set to run from October 30 to December 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. The following businesses make up the 2023 Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown teams: Deckers, CIO Solutions, Master Clean USA, Yardi, Amazon, Impact.com, Raytheon, Planet Fitness (5 locations).

“The Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown is not just a competition; it’s a shared effort among businesses to address food insecurity in our community, says Jenifer Sanregret, the Foodbank’s Corporate Giving Manager. “Each team brings their specialty to the “showdown.” It’s fun to witness the friendly competition between so many corporations that are near one another.” 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 4232 pounds of food, and raised $41,773. After several years of competing, Deckers Brand brought home the Golden Turkey award. As reigning champions, they’ll have another shot at winning this year’s first place position.

The competition unofficially kicked off on Tuesday, October 24 with a Lunch ‘n’ Learn and tour for participating businesses at the Foodbank’s new Sharehouse/Warehouse in Goleta. Individuals are encouraged to support a team by contributing to the cause by going to: foodbankSBC.org/hungerheroes2023/

more

How Teams Collect Points 

• Funds For every dollar donated, teams earn 10 points. Double points are awarded for monthly donations and company-matched employee donations.
• Food: Each point of donated food equals 5 points. Companies can set up food donation barrels in their premises, and when full, the Foodbank will collect the items. Food items include turkeys, canned goods, dry goods, and produce. 
• Volunteer Hours: One hour of volunteer work earns 10 points. Volunteering opportunities can be found on VolunteerHub, and the Foodbank is ready to assist in creating events tailored to company groups.
• Social Media Points:  For each unique post, teams will receive 5 points. The Foodbank must be tagged in each post in order for the team to receive points. The post must be related to the Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown.

Keeping Up with the Competition:

Team statistics will be updated weekly, with teams encouraged to engage their members through weekly emails and social media updates using #endhungergames and @foodbanksb.      

About the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County’s mission is to end hunger and transform the health of our community through good nutrition. The Foodbank is the primary hunger relief and food empowerment organization in the region. This year, through a network of 250+ nonprofit partners, the Foodbank distributed 10,884,809 pounds of healthy food. In Santa Barbara County, one in four people receives support from the Foodbank – 38% of the individuals we serve are children.

For more information, please visit FoodbankSBC.org or contact the Foodbank at (805) 680-0625.