Kent businesses and organizations must sign up by Friday, Oct. 11 to join the 3rd Annual Kent Turkey Challenge to collect donations for the Kent Food Bank.

The first two years of the Kent Turkey Challenge collected more than 3,700 pounds of food and $24,500. The Kent City Council will once again support the event through an official proclamation Oct. 15.

Torklift Central is hosting the event and will drop off donation boxes to participating businesses on Oct. 14-15.

Kent businesses are challenged to compete against each other to collect food and monetary donations. Donation boxes and related materials are provided to each business at no charge.

Businesses have the option to sell paper turkeys for $10, which will be another way that community members can participate in the challenge. Customers can write their name on the paper turkey and the businesses can hang them on the wall to represent their progress.

Several businesses and organizations are on board including the Experience Kent Expo who agreed to have the Turkey Challenge a part of the expo on Oc. 17 at the Showare Center. You can donate food or money towards the challenge during the expo.

“Our goal this year is to reach 3,000 pounds of food and $15,000 for the Kent Food Bank,” said Torklift Central general manager Matt Lynch. “With the help of local schools, organizations and businesses, we hope to achieve this goal.”

Kent Food Bank relies on the community to help families in need.

“The annual Kent Turkey Challenge has been a huge success and the Kent Food Bank has been able to feed over 3,500 families, “ Lynch said. “As a community, it is important that we unite as one and help out where we can.”

Businesses that are interested in participating can contact Katie Brown at Torklift Central at 253-720-1969 or Katie@tlcentral.com.