Curtis Instruments Team Wins 'Golden Scoop' Trophy in Annual Food Bank Competition. VIDEO

The Food Bank for Westchester, the county’s largest hunger-relief organization, hosted its annual “fierce but friendly” Golden Scoop Corporate Competition May 8—and Curtis Instruments of Mount Kisco beat out 10 other teams to win the “Golden Scoop” trophy.

The Food Bank hosts the Golden Scoop Corporate Competition each year to raise awareness and funds to support its efforts to serve the 265 local front-line programs in Westchester that feed the hungry. Teams vie to repack the most bulk food into deliverable packages in one hour at the Food Bank’s Elmsford distribution center. The packages are then distributed to soup kitchens, food pantries and adult and child day care centers and shelters.

“The energy and sense of purpose that the Golden Scoop Competition generates is incredible,” said Ellen Lynch, President and CEO of the Food Bank. “Even as the teams are competing against each other, they’re coming together for a common goal. I am grateful that these generous corporations and their employees are so willing to offer their support and devote their time toward helping us fight hunger in Westchester.”

The Curtis Instruments team repacked a whopping 3,446 pounds of rice to win the trophy, almost 600 pounds more the second-place Stop & Shop team, which repacked 2,854 pounds. AQR Capital Management team finished a close third with 2,846 pounds repacked. In all, the 11 teams repacked 27,770 pounds of rice.

As fun as the annual competition is, it has a serious purpose, helping to raise awareness of hunger in the county. Proceeds from the competition—each team pays an admission fee—benefit the Food Bank.

For the participants, the Golden Scoop is a team-building experience and a chance to give back to the community by volunteering in an activity that directly benefits Westchester’s hungry children, seniors and families.

This year’s participants were AQR Capital Management, Bunge, Capital One Bank, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Curtis Instruments, Dannon, Pernod Ricard USA, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Webster Bank.

The food item to be repacked changes each year, and is kept a strict secret until the day of the event. Each corporate team can have up to 20 members. In 2014, the Capital One Bank team beat out 10 other teams by repacking 1,700 pounds of beans.

The Curtis Instruments team will be presented with the Golden Scoop Championship Trophy at the Food Bank’s Tenth Annual Hunger Heroes Awards Breakfast, Thursday, June 4 at 8:00 am, at the Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown. They will hold onto the trophy for one year, until next year’s competition.

Here’s a video of Curtis Instruments from the 2013 competition, where the team finished second.