Shoreline business competing in Hopelink Can Madness Food Drive

Toni / Guy Hairdressing Academy Back for a Second Year

Toni / Guy Hairdressing Academy of Shoreline is among 25 businesses competing in Hopelink’s fourth annual Can Madness competitive food drive to help stock the agency’s five food banks. The first weigh-in will take place Friday, March 8 and the competition will continue until the winner is crowned April 5.

The drive is patterned after the famous national spring college basketball tournament, matching businesses in weekly competitions to see which one can bring in the most food. Each week, the winning business in every bracket will advance to the following week. Last year, Toni / Guy Hairdressing Academy made it to the final four, before being defeated by Guild Mortgage of Kirkland. This year, the Shoreline business is taking on Kirkland’s Hallmark Realty in week one of the competition.

In 2012, a total of 32 businesses collected 23,535 pounds of food and more than $3,000 in cash donations to help feed local families who are working to get back on their feet. Three-time tournament winner Hancock’s Bakery in Redmond brought in a total of 7,590 pounds during the competition.

To ensure that businesses of all sizes are able to compete on a level playing field, the competition uses a unique scoring system: the total pounds of food donated by a business are divided by the total number of employees, resulting in a competitive “score.”

Teams are bracketed together in pairs and one winner from each 2-member bracket will advance to the following week.

Toni / Guy is the only business from the Shoreline / Lake Forest Park / Kenmore area in the competition.

The competition is in its fourth year and was the brainchild of Lake Washington Physical Therapy’s Ben Wobker as a way for local businesses to help stock Hopelink’s five food banks during the time when holiday donations traditionally taper off.

Since 1971, Hopelink has served homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities in north and east King County by promoting self-sufficiency for all members of our community and helping people make lasting change. Hopelink assists people with meeting their needs for food, shelter, homelessness prevention, family development and stabilization, transportation and adult literacy skills. For more information on Hopelink and its services, call 425.869.6000 or visit the webpage.