Fluffy, small, covered in icing. Everybody loves a good cupcake, and select people love the process of making them. Sodexo, COD’s food service provider, has turned these mouthwatering treats into a competition, a war to be exact: Cupcake wars! Inspired by The Food Network’s show, the competition will occur Wednesday, April 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Not only can friends bake delicious goodies together, but they’re doing it all for charity. The seven teams are made up of faculty, staff and even Sodexo go head-to-head in a bake sale with homemade cupcakes. Each cupcake will be sold for $1, and all proceeds are donated to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

“I have been working with Northern Illinois Food Bank for quite a few years, and they do amazing work feeding our hungry neighbors throughout Illinois,” said Lynn Konicek, general manager of Sodexo. “The great thing is that they are able to take $1 and make it worth $8 in food by working with some of their food partners.”

The Northern Illinois Food Bank is located in Geneva and feeds Boone, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall and more counties. Nearly 600,000 residents from residing counties depend on the food bank for their nutrition. This has resulted in over 50 million meals to hungry individuals each year.

Originally, Sodexo has tried other variations of television shows, such as Chopped. This year, they wanted a more fun approach. “We were looking for something fun and an event people could be creative, and who doesn’t love cupcakes!” said Konicek. “We thought this would be fun and bring all of the COD community together, faculty, students, and we can’t let you guys have all the fun; so we have two of our staff members entered as well.”

Together, the cupcakes will be judged by various faculty such as Sodexo retail managers, marketers and administrators. Cupcakes will be judged on taste as well as texture. Teams are encouraged to go all out: t-shirts, decorated tables and anything else you can imagine. Sodexo’s goal is to raise as much as they can for the food bank while also having fun.

Two dozen cupcakes must be provided by each team. In addition to helping hungry people, the winning team will receive a prize of baking supplies, Sodexo gift cards and other unannounced items.
To learn more about the food bank, go to solvehungertoday.org, and buy some cupcakes from the Courier staff this Wednesday in the cafeteria!