(From left) Barberton Judges Todd McKenny and David Fish have fun with a challenge to donate cereal to a local shelter.

(From left) Barberton Judges Todd McKenny and David Fish have fun with a challenge to donate cereal to a local shelter.

A unique challenge between two Ohio courts is getting competitive, judging from the mounting cereal boxes raised by Barberton and Stow courts this week.

Barberton Municipal Court Judge David Fish and Stow Municipal Court Judge Kim Hoover are captains of court teams collecting boxes of cereal to donate to the area battered women’s shelter.

“We are astounded by the community support we have received from our Barberton Municipal Court district,” Judge Fish said. “From the day we announced this friendly competition, cereal boxes have been pouring in on an hourly basis.”

“We believe we will hit the 1,000 box mark sometime this morning,” he said.

In an effort to beat the winter blues and to help a good cause, both courts set out to see who can bring in the most cereal boxes.

A spokesman for the Battered Women Shelter of Summit and Medina counties said there’s a big demand for breakfast.

“This is incredible,” spokesman Nathan Chambers said. “This helps us a great deal. We have a full kitchen here, and this is going to help us serve breakfast to the women and children who need it.”

In 2018, the shelter provided food and beds for 289 women and 223 children.

The courts began collecting the cereal in late January, and the contest ends today at 5 p.m.

The winner gets a free meal, but the reward of helping women and children is shared by both courts.

“This charitable event has exceeded our wildest expectations,” Judge Fish said. “It’s gratifying to look at this collection and know how many children and their mothers will be eating breakfast in the most difficult of circumstances. It will help the shelter to redirect their spending to other important priorities.”

One of those priorities might be milk, Judge Fish quipped.