March Can Madness is a way to help Hopelink’s Redmond food bank and light that fun, competitive fire at the same.

Ben Wobker of Redmond Physical Therapy came up with the idea of a canned food collection using “brackets,” similar to college basketball’s March Madness.

The tournament will start with 16 businesses, who will vie to see which teams can collect the most food for Hopelink. So far, 15 businesses have signed up.

In addition to Redmond Physical Therapy, other Redmond businesses which have joined the contest are Evergreen Hospital Medical Center Primary Care at Redmond, Eastside Basketball Club, Foot Solutions, Dr. Ghislane Robert, VCA Redwood Animal Hospital, Palmer’s East, Falco Sult, Hancock’s Bakery, McDonalds Book Exchange, Roos Orthodontics, Redmond Family Dentristy, Bikram Hot Yoga, Foot Zone and Charter Bank.

Businesses with the greatest amount of food donations will advance to the next bracket.

Food will be weighed each Friday of the tournament (March 5, 12, 19, 26) at the Hopelink Redmond Food Bank, 16225 NE 87th St., Suite A. Participating businesses should bring their food to be weighed between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on those days.

By 5 p.m. each Friday, participants will receive e-mails with the team standings and the brackets for the next week. Results will also be posted on the Redmond Reporter Web site.

For more information, contact Denise Stephens at Hopelink, denise@hopelink.org or (425) 869-2440.