At left, area manager Alfredo Martin gives the racers at El Rey the command to start.

North Shore Bank hosted the 10th annual Race for the Hungry events at supermarkets in Kenosha, Menasha, and Milwaukee on December 27. Participants compete each year to see who can rush through the store and fill their shopping cart fastest, with all the groceries gathered going to local food pantries.

District manager Brian Bozek, at far left, helps load up the truck with collected food after the race in Kenosha.

Tremper High School’s football team went up against the boys swim team at Kenosha Festival Foods to collect food for the Shalom Center food pantry. Assistant branch manager–sales Bridget Anderson said the swim team won, setting a new record by getting through their grocery list in five minutes.

At the Menasha Piggly Wiggly, three Menasha High School football players raced against three representatives from St. Joseph Food Program. “Things got competitive,” reported Northland personal banker Tisha Kucukaslan. “Both teams scouted out the store beforehand, planning their routes, and the ladies from St. Joe’s went as far as writing aisle numbers and amounts on their hands to allow them to split up and save time.”

The Piggly Wiggly mascot and Seymour pose for an after-race photo with the teams at Menasha.

The St. Joe’s ladies won by a full minute, earning themselves an extra $100 gift card; they also received a $500 donation from a local North Shore Bank business customer. With that plus the collected food, all of which was donated by the Piggly Wiggly, St. Joe’s took in over $1,500 in food and cash.

The race at El Rey Foodmart in Milwaukee benefited Milwaukee Christian Center food pantry, and two members of the nonprofit’s board of directors competed against each other, joined by their kids.

In Kenosha, Bridget, district manager Brian Bozek, and universal bankers Erik Bankhead and Rodney Whiteside helped with the race. Tisha and Northland video teller Kathleen Veu, Menasha universal banker Wylee Meinhardt, district manager Kerri Collins, and mortgage loan officer Eric Van Den Busch helped with the Menasha event; customer Todd Purdy played Seymour. El Rey teller Guadalupe Barbosa, assistant branch manager–sales Maria Castro, teller supervisor Maria Paulina Garcia, teller Maria Fabiola Guel, and area manager Alfredo Martin pitched in for the El Rey race.