By Amanda Raymond

amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

A company in Concord recently collected more than 7,000 boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix for local food banks.

Pass & Seymour, a company that supplies electrical wiring devices and lighting controls, held a Jiffy Challenge for the first time this year.

The company collected a total of 7,689 boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, or four and a half pallets.

Sarah Bernhart, event organizer, said after calling around to local food pantries, she found that the biggest need was for Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix.

Bernhart said the plant employees were split up into six teams across the three shifts. The teams were tasked to collect as many corn muffin mix boxes as they could.

“They got competitive with themselves,” Bernhart said.

Employees had fun with the competition. Brenda Brewer, an employee, dressed up in a Jiffy box costume. Other employees decorated their own boxes and there were Recipe of the Day suggestions posted in the building.

On the Wednesday night before the final day to bring in the corn muffin mix, Bernhart said local stores were completely out of the mix and the winning team had to travel to Charlotte to find more boxes. They ended up bringing in 1,500 boxes.

“The employees have been just incredibly enthusiastic,” Bernhart said.

Bernhart said the corn muffin mix was a good product to collect because it is easily identifiable, readily available and inexpensive.

Employees had such a good time with the challenge, some have asked if they could have a challenge every week. Bernhart said in the future, she would like have a challenge for cutlery and other dining items.

“There are so many organizations in need in this area,” she said.

The company delivered two pallets last Thursday to Operation Breadbasket in Concord and delivered half of a pallet to the Baptist Sharing House in Concord yesterday.

Bernhart said she was happy that the employees were enthusiastic about the challenge and that the company was able to help the local community.

“The goal is to be helpful and we accomplished that goal,” she said.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.