This year’s interns took a swing at embracing Michels’ Core Values of teamwork and social responsibility by filling and donating 27 piñatas to Children’s Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee, WI. The piñatas were filled by nearly 150 interns during a team-building activity during last month’s two-day Intern Orientation & Kickoff. Six interns delivered the piñatas to the hospital and stopped in for a visit at our R1VER office in Milwaukee.
The piñatas, which range in shape from pink unicorns to dump trucks to smiling suns, will bring joy to children facing serious illness and financial hardship.
“This donation really made me realize just how much Michels isn’t just another construction business, that they are and have been much, much more than that,” said Abram Helsell, a project management intern. Upon graduation with a degree in construction management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Abram will join Michels full time as a project manager focused on paving projects.
“The countless donations and fundraising to help people in communities far and wide makes being a part of this company extremely special,” Abram said.
Following the donation event, four of the six interns headed to R1VER for an office tour and drove around Milwaukee to see downtown, the East Side, the lakefront, and a jobsite.
This summer, we welcomed our largest class of interns yet, at nearly 150 individuals. While they are spending their summers at offices and jobsites across the country, they gathered in Brownsville, WI for two days of programming, networking, and socializing where they participated in team building with a purpose.
After breaking into groups of four to six people, the interns selected a piñata based on how well they performed in a game of trivia. They stuffed bags of candy into the piñatas while exercising team building to ensure that each group member was able to contribute to the activity and employ strategic thinking while finding ways to fit all the candy inside the piñatas.
“I thought it was really cool to see the whole project come full circle after being a part of the behind-the-scenes of stuffing the piñatas to being able to actually deliver them. It is one of those satisfying feelings to see something you started being completed in such a special way,” Abram said.
