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Accounting Olympics raises funds for United Way
“For a bunch of desk jockeys, we sure are competitive!” said Williams-Keepers LLC Chairman Jeff Echelmeier after watching the firm’s Jefferson City and Columbia offices battle each other during the fourth annual Accountant Olympics. The highly anticipated event, which is the signature fundraiser for WK’s United Way employee campaign, was held on June 19.
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Basketball, dodgeball, wiffle ball, a big wheel race, an obstacle course and a 10-key calculator race were among the nine events in a competition pitting Jefferson City’s Mad Adders against Columbia’s Bad Assets. Mild-mannered accountants turned into fierce rivals. Office staff displayed their athleticism, or lack thereof.
At the end of the afternoon, the Jefferson City office emerged victorious for the third year in a row and hoisted the Accounting Olympics title belt. And, together, the Mad Adders and Bad Assets raised more money for the United Way than it has in any of the previous three years of the event.
Williams-Keepers LLC has a decades-long history of supporting the United Way chapters in Jefferson City and Columbia, but the firm recently stepped up its efforts to encourage giving via its annual employee campaign. “Our vision is to be a leader in the Central Missouri community, and we knew we needed to do more than just pass out the pledge forms each year. We needed to demonstrate the firm’s support, get people excited to give, and help everyone learn more about the impact the United Way has on the lives of so many of our friends and neighbors,” WK Member and United Way of Central Missouri board member Ryan Henry says.
To accomplish those goals, WK forms a committee of associates each year to raise awareness of the campaign and plan fundraising events. The result? WK has achieved Pacesetter status the past several years, a designation the firm is committed to repeating.
Despite the fierce competitive spirit the Olympics can bring out in WK members and associates, the event also brings everyone closer together. “There is a benefit to our firm when we get so many people involved in achieving a common goal and helping others,” says HR Generalist Beth Fitzgerald, who leads the campaign committee. “Plus, there’s something very therapeutic about nailing a partner in the back with a dodgeball.”
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