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Friday
Sep022011

How can one not feel good when business partners with a good cause: The World Police & Fire Games.

What's the largest, non-Olympic, multi-sport event in the world?

If you said anything but the World Police and Fire [WP&F] Games presently being held in New York City, you'd be incorrect.  The WP&F games are surpassed only by on the Summer Olympic Games held every four years; they attract over 15,000 police officers and firefighter from around the globe to compete in 69 different events.

The expected, conventional sports are covered, like baseball, basketball, ice hockey, golf, but others like fishing, open-water swim, judo, archery are there too--as are other, less-expected ones like darts, horseshoes, and paintball!  As many as 8,000 athletes police and firefighters from 70 countries descend on the host city to participate.  Four years ago the events were held in Australia ['07], two years ago, British Columbia ['09]; in 2013 the Games will take place in Belfast, Ireland.  

Corporate dollars help make this all happen.

All of this is, in part, made possible by a touching partnership with private enterprise in the form of sponsorships; names of firms like Budweiser, Tyco, MSG Sports, and Trump lead the list but a very long compendium of other important underwriters all helps to defray the costs involved.  

Emergency responders like police and firefighters are at the center of our communities in the developed world.  That they can be honored and in this way "served" by a powerful event like this by the greater society they spend their professional energies--and lives--serving all the rest of the time is, to me, very moving and meaningful.  That players in the world of commerce can also play their part by contributing to help make this happen is also a very worthy and a cool thing, too.  _______________________________________________________________

Follow Keith's biz blog on Twitter for updates and see more of what he's reading about on his Facebook Page. If you are inclined, you can write him at kmurray@bryant.edu.

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