FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Nov. 12, 2009) - It started with an unusual yet creative idea from plant manager, Rich Strozyk, at a monthly town hall meeting; a food drive with a twist. He proposed a race, Nascar style, between the departments and himself to see who could collect the most pounds of food for Community Harvest Food Bank. Simple enough, but to make it more interesting, pennies could be donated to the opposing teams to deduct pounds from their totals. Various prizes were collected for the winning team and a trophy was made from foam. And so the “Race for the Barrel” began.
By week three Foamex employees had collected over 1,000 pounds of food and $100 in pennies! What came next was beyond imagination. As the teams battled it out week to week with heart-felt enthusiasm and compassion for those in need, the food totals surpassed the 2 ton mark and the city was running out of pennies.
Then something quite unexpected happened. Employees Jimmy Garza, Shawnn Burch, Rita Fish-Kryder, Greg Murphy, and Keith Hill gathered together and decided to present the staff with a proposal: to stop the competition and unite as one big FXI team. Forget prizes or a trophy; the satisfaction of knowing how many people they were helping was more than enough reward. 
The final week arrived with the united team pushing harder than ever to do the most to fight hunger. You could feel the excitement in the air as the final barrels and cart loads were weighed and the money was counted. In all the FXI Team raised a total of 7,493 pounds and $ 1,500.
“We are all so proud of ourselves and each other. What a great accomplishment!” said Rich Strozyk, FXI plant manager. “That is the true spirit of FXI Foamex Innovations.”
ABOUT FXI
FXI is a leading producer of innovative foam products for the Home, Healthcare, Electronics, Industrial, Personal Care and Transportation markets. Products include finished goods, sub-assemblies, services and raw materials for OEMs, fabricators and retailers. FXI innovations and products provide comfort for automobile passengers and protect fragile electronic components in shipment. Our products help consumers sleep sounder and furniture manufacturers create comfort. Our products provide for sharper images in digital printers and copiers and help consumers keep their homes clean. Our products provide critical components for filters, dispensers, gaskets and seals in everything from blood oxygenators to computer disk drives.
Article, photos contributed
The penny jars
The 2009 Food Bank trophy.
Throughout November and December, Kroger is selling reusable “Bringing Hope To the Table” shopping bags throughout all of its banner stores. The bags are being sold for $1.99 a piece, with $1.30 of each bag sold to benefit the local food bank.
