Participants in the second annual Spectrum Brands Corporate Food Drive Challenge collected 133,675 pounds of food. A year ago, the challenge raised 17,000 pounds. The proceeds of the friendly competition will benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

In addition to Spectrum Brands, the 16 other participants in this year’ challenge are Cargill, Castrol Oil, Englander, Signature Bank of Arkansas, Johnson Controls, Smuckers, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Shell Lubricants, Newell Brands, PepsiCo, Simmons Bank, Unilever, ITW, Johnson & Johnson and Mondelez International.

Employees donated non-perishable food items and funds. The donated food was weighed on Nov. 30. The office with the most weight per capita was deemed the 2017 champion and received a trophy to display at its offices.

For the second year in a row, the winner was Johnson Controls, where the employees collected 758 pounds per person. Accepting the trophy were David Yadon and Kevin Height. There were 807 people competing from the participating company and the average was 165 pounds of food for each person.

Yadon said the five employees at Johnson had a good cause and support.

“We pulled in outside donations and our goal was to do as much as five people could do,” he said. They are hoping for a three-peat in 2018.

Kenneth Medlin with Spectrum Brands said, “He was overwhelmed with the response to help our community.”

Daniel Boone, the team lead at Spectrum Brands, thanked those who participated and set a goal of 250,000 pounds of food for the 2018 challenge, which helps build team morale.

Medlin hoped to have 25-30 companies in next year’s challenge.

“It was a great experience to bring the team together while serving the community and supporting those who are food insecure,” said Nicki Sidani from General Mills. “The challenge aligns well with our mission as we serve the world making food people love.”

Kent Eikenberry, president and CEO of the Food Bank, said he couldn’t say enough about Spectrum Brands and he thanked them for their hard work.

“I appreciate the efforts so much,” said Eikenberry, who represented 70,000 people in Northwest Arkansas with food insecurities. “You see the need to help people.”

Mike Williams, director of development for the Food Bank, told those attending a celebratory party, that he played a small role to complete your passion to help those with food insecurities.

He thanked Medlin for organizing the challenge, keeping everyone motivated and making sure no one goes hungry.

Companies interested in participating in next year’s Challenge can contact Mike Williams at mike.williams@nwafoodbank.org.