On March 7th, more than one-hundred people descended on the Mall of America® to compete in MATTER’s tenth annual MATTERbox Madness. Held in the Huntington® Bank Rotunda, sixteen teams of employees from companies across the Twin Cities, all with amazing team spirit, raced against each other in a bracket-style competition to assemble boxes of beneficial snack packs in the fastest time. When the madness was over and the last box taped shut, 10,000 snack packs were ready for Minnesota kids this summer!
MATTERbox snack packs are an easy way for schools, hospitals, clinics, churches and other community organizations to address food insecurity among those they serve. Each snack pack is filled with a delicious protein, a complex carbohydrate, and an unsweetened fruit pouch. Essential to each snack pack is the YOU MATTER note of encouragement handwritten for the recipient by the person assembling the snack pack.
This year’s recipient of the 10,000 snack packs is MATTER’s long-time community partner, The Sanneh Foundation in St. Paul. With a holistic mission to empower youth, improve lives and unite communities, The Sanneh Foundation provides in-school and after-school programs focused on the educational, physical, social and emotional well-being of the children and youth they serve.
Founder and retired professional soccer player, Tony Sanneh, was on-hand, not only to receive the snack packs, but to help his team compete in their first ever MATTERbox Madness event. “We’re here to bring home the trophy. It’s really special because we’ve been the recipient of these MATTERboxes for years, so today we get to take part in actually making them. And we’re a little competitive so we get to win at the same time!”
Another team competing for the first time was Treasure Island Resort and Casino. Public Relations Manager for Treasure Island, Aaron Seehusen, explained why they chose to participate this year, “As the largest employer in Goodhue County, we feel a responsibility to give back to our community and be a good neighbor to other communities in Minnesota. And since this event benefits youth, it fits right in with one of the core pillars of our community engagement plan which is youth development. Plus, it’s a great team building activity and we’re having a lot of fun!”
Taking home this year’s championship trophy was the team from Mall of America®. In their second year of competition, the Mall of America® team brought their A-game and took no prisoners. Not only did they win their heats, but they won by a considerable margin.
When asked how it felt to be the champions, Mike Tvrdik, VP of Corporate Sales for Mall of America®, beamed, “It feels awesome! We had a great team, a great system, and we played it all the way through. It’s been a great time and a lot of fun. This is a great thing you guys do. We’re glad to be a part of it and glad it’s going to a great cause!”
This year’s event was the kick-off to MATTER’s annual initiative to provide 50,000 meals to Minnesota kids during the summer months. Thanks to these amazing teams and their unflagging energy, enthusiasm and drive to help others, we are well on our way to achieving that goal!
In addition to Mall of America®, Treasure Island Resort and Casino and The Sanneh Foundation, MATTER would like to thank all the companies and organizations who made this tenth year of MATTERbox Madness such a fun and successful event: Business Impact Group, Edina Morningside Rotary, JP4 Foundation, Henkel, Hennepin Healthcare, Huntington Bank, KLC Financial, Lube-Tech, Mains’l Services, Minnesota Vikings, Scott Equipment Company, and Seiler Law.
Watch the highlights of MATTERbox Madness 2024!
