Monica Katie: Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Our department decided to have a pumpkin decorating contest. There were six designated teams. They provided us with one big pumpkin and some decorations. Each team was requested to decorate their pumpkins in a way they believe exemplifies one of our company's core values – Respect; Quality, Integrity, Customers, Teamwork, and Performance. We were allowed to add anything we wanted - so we were only limited by our own imagination and creativity.

After our team stopped complaining about having to do something else on top of all the work we had to do – and someone finally volunteered to be the team leader - our group threw out a bunch of ideas. We all really liked the idea of doing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (that was my idea!). The Seven Dwarfs represented teamwork, integrity, and performance. The seven individual characters – Happy, Sleepy, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Grumpy and Dopy – are a true team, always going off to work each morning whistling a happy tune. They embed the concept of teamwork and cooperation illustrating how different talents and personalities can be brought together to accomplish shared goals.

We decided to carve out Snow White on the large pumpkin we were given and paint the faces of the dwarfs on small pumpkins that we bought. So many of the people on our team were afraid to create these because they felt they had no artistic talent and would not be able to draw or paint. We booked a meeting room to do our project and everyone took a small pumpkin and started drawing. Many of our team members surprised themselves of just how well their pumpkin came out! And we just had so much fun decorating the little guys!

We placed our pumpkins on display and everyone in our building was asked to vote for their favorite. They voted by dropping change into a bucket by each team's display - all the way up to $1 bills. Anything above a $1 was not allowed – but you could drop several $1 bills. This was to prevent each group from voting for their own pumpkin by dropping in large bills. The monies collected were going to be donated to the The Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The pumpkin that collected the most money was the winner. There was so much excitement around the whole event! We collectively raised over $300 and our company matched the donations!

And the winner is …. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!!!!!!