The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is opening the 2024 Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown, a six-week competition, Oct. 28-Dec. 9.

The annual campaign brings together companies large and small to combat hunger during the holiday season. Participating businesses earn points through financial donations, food drives, volunteer hours, and social media engagement.

Eight local companies will participate in this year’s showdown, with a collective goal of raising $50,000.

Participating teams are Apeel, Yardi, CIO Solutions, Impact, Planet Fitness, Gavial, Kyocera, Isla Vista Food Co-op, and Heeluxe.

During the 2023 competition, participants raised $61,840, donated 2,407 pounds of food, and volunteered for 67 hours. Participating teams will compete again this year to win the Golden Turkey award.

“Having local businesses participate in Hunger Heroes allows the Foodbank to use our purchasing power to stretch one dollar five times further than if a person were to purchase food from a grocery store today,” said corporate giving manager Jen Sanregret.

“The Hunger Heroes teams participating allows us to reach our goal of providing equitable access to nutritional food for the holidays,” Sanregret said.

Individuals can support their favorite team by donating at donate.foodbanksbc.org/HHCS2024.

Teams can earn points in the following ways:

· Monetary Donations: Double points for company-matched employee donations, and teams earn one point per dollar raised.
· Food Donations: Food donation boxes are created by each team, where items like canned goods, dry goods, and fresh produce can be contributed to Foodbank warehouse locations, allowing teams to accumulate points for pounds. Additionally, a turkey drive is scheduled from Nov. 1-22.
· Volunteer Hours: Volunteer opportunities can be found on VolunteerHub, and the Foodbank can assist in organizing events for corporate teams.
· Social Media Engagement: Teams can earn points for each unique social media post, as long as the Foodbank is tagged and the post is related to the Hunger Heroes Corporate Showdown.

Team stats will be updated weekly. Companies can keep their employees in the know with regular emails and social media updates using #endhungergames and tagging @foodbanksb.

For more about the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, visit www.FoodbankSBC.org.