The Southfield CommUNITY Cup Challenge, an annual summer event that brings businesses in the Southfield City Centre together for some friendly competition and to raise funds and awareness for a good cause, is happening this summer. This year marks the fourth year for the Southfield Community Cup Challenge, but the first year the event has gone online.
“Despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we know that the Southfield CommUNITY Cup Challenge is a much-loved event, and something that really marks the summer for companies that participate, so we worked to make it happen,” says Shelly Freeman, business and economic development director for The City of Southfield. “Now more than ever, we depend upon events that will unite us and encourage us to have fun together.”
Organizations in the Southfield City Centre are encouraged to connect, reconnect, meet new business neighbors and find some fun this summer to build #SouthfieldStrong spirit. In all, 18 organizations are taking part in the virtual one-day event.
Typically, the CommUNITY Cup Challenge brings together businesses, city departments and educational institutions in the Southfield City Centre to compete in a variety of fun challenges, like trivia nights, bingo and scavenger hunt races. This year, the events are compacted down into a one-day competition with two virtual events held on Thursday, July 23.
From 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., players will face off online for “guess the destination” and bingo. From 3 to 4:30 p.m. players will compete in an online trivia and scavenger hunt in teams of five. Due to limited programming, play will be for fun only and a new cup winner will be announced in 2021.
Most importantly, collections and donations for the Stronger Warrior Foundation – this year’s selected charity — are open to all and will be ongoing until August 31. Stronger Warrior is a local nonprofit organization that supports the needs of active men and women in the military as well as veterans. The foundation’s flagship initiative, Mission Resupply, assembles, stocks and ships custom-designed crates to military men and women who are deployed overseas.
“The Stronger Warrior Foundation feels so grateful to be the charity supporting the Southfield Community Cup this year,” says Katelyn Abell, co-executive director of the foundation. “I think there’s a lot of great companies involved and willing to help donate toward our Mission Resupply program. The biggest thing we would like to do is raise awareness about our organization and how we can help support our military personnel especially during these uncertain times.”
Through partnerships with organizations and individuals, the Stronger Warrior Foundation collects donations, selects platoons and sends crates to each member of the platoon. The organization was founded by sister-brother team Katelyn and Bryan Abell. Katelyn Abell led her team at Southfield City Centre-based IHS Markit to victory in the 2019 CommUNITY Cup Challenge and received the Cup trophy at the Southfield City Council meeting on September 23.
Learn more about the Southfield CommUNITY Cup on the event’s Facebook page. Donate at the GoFundMe page for the event.
