There’s an important reason why the word “unity” is so prominent in the Southfield Corporate CommUNITY Cup Challenge branding. This is an event that brings people together.
This friendly competition between Southfield City Centre businesses and community partners fosters team spirit, forges connections, and creates friendships. It raises donations for a great cause, too.
This year, 19 teams are registered (with room for 20), and the competition kicks off on July 12 with a kickball tournament at Inglenook Park. The challenge will wrap up on August 9, and teams will be building up donations of school supplies for Southfield Public Schools, to help teachers who so often need plenty of extra supplies to use throughout the school year.
The 2017 CommUNITY Cup brought 16 teams—more than 500 participants and volunteers in all—together for weekly challenges from June to July. Throughout the challenge, teams collected canned and packaged foods to donate to Gleaners Community Food Bank.
By the end of the six-week event, Sandy Schmidt and Wendy Dyrda of MSX International felt more connected to their coworkers as they pulled together to earn bragging rights over fellow Southfield City Centre businesses. “The best benefit was team building within the company, and also getting to know other companies within Southfield,” they said.
From the corn hole tournament, to the quiz bowl competition, to the golf scramble, and the kickball game, participants built strategies, supported each other, and had a lot of fun. At the very end, all 16 participating teams built displays using the 9,600 pounds of canned and packaged food they collected. In the final event, dubbed “canstruction,” creativity ruled, as companies showed off their colors, logos, and corporate pride—all with packaged food.
Schmidt and Dyrda were especially proud of their company’s generosity in supporting Gleaners, and their collaboration during all of the weekly events.
What made the challenge fun was a community spirit that rewarded effort alongside victory. “There was a friendliness among everyone that participated in this event, even though we went head-to-head with each other,” said Schmidt. “It wasn’t cut-throat. It was actually fun.”
This year, Schmidt is looking forward to reconnecting with 2017 participants, and welcoming new companies and their employees to the competition.
“The CommUNITY Cup just makes you aware of what other companies are around you that sometimes you don’t even know about,” Schmidt said. “Just knowing what some of these companies do might help us in our business.”
Registered teams should be sure to watch for announcements about the 2018 CommUNITY Cup. It’s never too early to begin team training for trivia, sand volleyball, and “Race Around Southfield” events. Not part of a registered team? Get swept up in the fun by volunteering during any or all of the events this summer. There are so many ways to connect with your community right here in the Southfield City Centre.
