The following is a release from Hopelink:

It’s the battle of the underdogs in the last week of Hopelink Can Madness, with both teams advancing to the final round in only their second year of the competition. The winner will be announced April 3.

Representing Kirkland will be Xtreme Consulting Group, who topped Lake Washington Physical Therapy this week. On the Redmond side, Universal Avionics scored an upset over Hancock’s Bakery to ensure their trip to the final. Over the past six years, three-time champion Hancock’s has brought in nearly 20,000 pounds of food for local families.

Rene Spani with Universal Avionics said his team was motivated to improve on last year’s performance to get to the final four this year. And he credits Hancock’s Bakery for spurring them on.

“To outscore such a great and community-minded company such as Hancock’s Bakery in our “final four” matchup was a surprise for us,” Spani said. “However, the real winner is everyone in our community that Hopelink helps on a daily basis. We’ve been watching all the teams this year week-by-week, and needless to say, Xtreme Consulting has been at, or near, the top every week, so we’ll see what we can do for the final.”

Britta Stormo, Marketing Associate for Xtreme Consulting Group, Inc. said her team is ready for the matchup.

“Team Xtreme is so excited to be in the finals for Can Madness,” Stormo said. “This fundraiser has been an awesome and rewarding experience and hopefully we can top it off by being crowned champions on Friday.”

Combined, the final four teams brought in 10,926 pounds of food and $950 this week, bringing the 2015 Can Madness total to 31,550 pounds and $4,232.

Hopelink Can Madness is a single-elimination competition similar to the national spring college basketball tournament, matching businesses in weekly contests to see which one can bring in the most food. The competition began March 2 with 32 teams representing Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, Shoreline and Seattle.