By Flannery Hill for the Foodbank of Santa BarbaraCounty | Published on 01.21.2014 4:26 p.m.
The competitive spirit surrounding the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County’s annual Corporate Food & Funds Drive Challenge was at an all-time high this past holiday season, helping to make the 2013 competition a great success.
The nine local companies involved — Brown & Brown Insurance, Citrix, Cox, Deckers Outdoor Corp., Ergomotion, Fidelity National Title, Network Hardware Resale, Village Properties and Yardi Systems — were able to collectively bring in 22,463 pounds of food, 266 turkeys, 442.5 hours of service and $47,309.44 in donations, an increase from last year by more than $5,700.
Each of the participating companies played an important role in the Foodbank’s goal of increasing food security and greatly contributed to meet the need this holiday season.
» Based on a point system relative to their number of employees, Brown & Brown Insurance claimed this year’s winning title with $3,416.37 raised, 61.25 volunteer hours served and through harvesting more than 2,000 pounds of locally grown produce for the Foodbank to secure the win.
» Deckers, a two-time winner of the challenge, raised nearly $20,000 in financial donations and donated more than 100 turkeys.
» Village Properties provided the highest number of volunteer hours.
» Citrix kicked off the drive at its annual Employee Wellness Day with a canned food collection contest.
» Cox employees picked an amazing 6,251 pounds of produce.
» Ergomotion was a strong second-place contender in the Points to Employee category.
» Fidelity National Title came on board for first year and was a fierce contender.
» Network Hardware Resale picked 2,280 pounds of produce.
» Village Properties hosted a happy hour fundraiser at Cadiz.
» Yardi inspired employees to bring in canned and boxed food for a sculpture contest including a “Burger Bus” replica.
“Brown & Brown Insurance and its employees know how important it is to give back to the community where they live, work and raise their families,” said Susan Rodriguez, executive vice president of Brown & Brown Insurance Services of California Inc. “Our culture promotes and encourages employee involvement through monetary and hours donated. Through our competitive environment, we work together to help those nonprofits that we support improve their mission.
“Foodbank of Santa Barbara County provides much needed food and nutrition education in the community where we live and work. We enjoyed being part of the Corporate Challenge in 2013. Our competitive spirit was heightened as we received weekly and monthly results of those who participated in the Corporate Challenge. Brown & Brown Insurance looks forward to its continued support of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.”
“Every pound, dollar and volunteer hour truly does count and we commend all of the corporations for their generosity,” said Erik Talkin, CEO of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. “What an amazing gift our Corporate Food & Funds Drive Challenge participants have given to our community through our programs and our network of 300 nonprofits and programs this holiday season.”
— Flannery Hill is a publicist representing the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/brown_brown_insurance_wins_foodbank_challenge_20140121
