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On October 27th we kicked off the company Food Drive with the brilliant idea of pitting one half of the office against the other. A little competition never hurt anyone, right? And in this case, it actually fed a ton of people! Community Action Services brought us two barrels, which I set up by my office window before sending off the first staff email:
10/27/09
It’s on everyone! Who’s going to put the most in their bucket by December 4th?
Sales VS Tech!
North VS South!
Lee’s Peeps VS Lane’s Posse!
Design VS Accounting!
Affiliate Marketing VS Himself!
Pirates VS Ninjas!
Winners get a steak lunch! Losers can put A1 on their hamburgers and pretend that they won.
What to bring: Non-perishables, NO glass, hygiene items are appropriate (diapers, toilet paper, tooth brushes, etc.), and, of course, canned food of any variety.
May the best side win!
Almost immediately it became necessary for me to pull out the rule book:
10/27/09
FYI Donations will be judged on the number of items donated, because a big package of toilet paper would basically fill one of these barrels. I will definitely count each roll of toilet paper as its own item though 
The first day’s totals were encouraging for the Tech side:
10/28/09
The first day has pulled in 45 for Tech and a whopping ZERO for Sales! There are still 25 days left in the competition, though, so don’t despair—or celebrate—just yet.
Keep up the good work, Tech! You’re in the lead!
The competition progressed a lot quicker than the amount of food stuff in Sales’ barrel, an observation I made public in the email I sent out mid-November, which also included yet another reminder of the rules, because I wasn’t about to tally the amount of individual beans in a can.
11/11/09
Hi everyone!
We have 15 work days left before the end of the food drive competition. The Tech side is ahead with 65 items in their bucket and Sales hasn’t budged from 0…yet. Remember, a lot can happen in fifteen days! Also remember the rules: I will count each item separately even if it is in the same packaging ONLY if it can reasonably be given to one person, like toilet paper, paper towels, or dental floss. And while dental floss is a brilliant idea, you can’t floss unless you first have something to eat, so don’t forget about food!
Thanks to everybody who has donated so far. You all rock!
The previous email spurred the Sales side to action, producing 49 items in a little over two weeks, but that still didn’t put them over Tech:
11/30/09
The clock is ticking everyone!! There’s only four more days left in the food drive. Tech is still leading with 80 items in their barrel and Sales is at 49. Remember the winners get a steak lunch on NetHosting! The competition will officially close at 5:30 on Friday.
Of course, by this time, Tech was preparing themselves for Sales to try something drastic during the final countdown, so they put aside their reserves (a box of 48 Ramen noodle packages), just in case.
12/3/09
Tomorrow is the last day of the food drive, everyone, and Tech is blowing away Sales with 176 items against 49. Remember, the competition will officially close at 5:30 tomorrow, so it’s definitely not too late to level the score.
I sent this next email out on the fourth, almost convinced at this point that Sales had thrown in the towel and the competition was basically over:
12/4/09
The food drive is almost over.
Current totals: Sales=66 Tech=198
In the end, even Tech side’s hidden reserves couldn’t save them as Sales lugged in six boxes of Ramen and about four boxes of Saltines at precisely 5:25, thereby closing the competition in no uncertain terms. The following Monday (the competition ended on a Friday) I sent out the resolution email with the final numbers:
12/7/09
The Sales team delivered on their promise to take us all by surprise and produced a mountain of Top Ramen at the last minute, bringing the ending total to 394 for Sales and 249 for Tech. Good job, Sales! You get steak for this week’s BBQ!
Competition aside, we had a great turnout of food and hygiene items for those in need this year. Awesome job, NetHosting team! If you would like to help fight hunger visit Community Action main website for more info. Be part of a team that is fighting to make a difference.
