Fall Harvest Season is Extra Plentiful Thanks to John Hancock

The Seacoast Family Food Pantry needed extra shelving one week.  That’s because the pantry donations from John Hancock’s team building workshop were so plentiful, they filled an entire SUV!

John Hancock logo

 

Here’s how 25 people from John Hancock made a difference.

Puttin’ Pantry™, a charity team building workshop, sets groups up with the task of creating mini golf putting holes out of food pantry items.  The activities are designed so that the better teams are at working together and finding creative ways to communicate and collaborate, the more food items they get to work with.

The John Hancock group certainly hit their stride and did a bang-up job in those areas!  We don’t keep records around here on that sort of thing, but it may even be the largest donation ever, based on food donated per person!

Here’s how this Portsmouth, NH group won at mini golf…

After an initial round of ice breakers, the group was divided into teams so the real work could begin.  By “work” we mean digging in and challenging each other to put heads together, think creatively, and test our advanced communication skills in action.

The collaborative spirit took over as everyone was very motivated to produce as large a food donation as possible.  As usual, we try and pair team building workshop groups with a local charity whose mission is in line with both the workshop theme and the client company’s mission of corporate social responsibility.

The Seacoast Family Food Pantry fit the bill on both counts.

Puttin’ Pantry’s golf theme worked on several levels.

Not only did constructing mini golf holes provide a fun way to test teamwork skills, but the golf theme fit with the charity’s main event of the season.  Seacoast Family Food Pantry had hosted a fund-raiser in September, about one month before their Magnovo workshop.

The event was called “Take a Shot at Hunger”, and all proceeds went to help fund the shelter.  It was a golf tournament held in Portsmouth…how fitting then, that we had a golf-themed Portsmouth team building workshop to follow up the occasion!

 

The John Hancock group loved getting creative during their team building activities.

One of the great things about Puttin’ Pantry is the way teams dream up wonderfully creative designs for their mini golf holes…remember, the construction materials are pantry items!  It was a great day of fun and creativity held in a beautiful location: the Hilton Garden Inn in Portsmouth, NH.  We look forward to helping John Hancock again next year with their team-building initiatives.