DAYTON – How do you get over 450 volunteers to show up on a holiday weekend to run a concession stand, direct parking, field marshal and do other less-than-glamorous jobs for a large soccer tournament? You feed them steak and all the sides.
Actually, the volunteers all pull together to make the Labor Day Mead/CUSA Cup soccer tournament an event to remember because they care about maintaining a tradition of excellence. But having a good meal at a volunteer reception – following an afternoon of golf – goes a long way toward saying ‘thank you.’
“We’ve been donating food for the CUSA volunteers’ reception for three years,” says Robert Atkins, the proprietor of the Outback Steakhouse in Centerville. “It is our way of giving back to a community that gives so much to the kids each Labor Day weekend and throughout the year. We’re just happy to be a part of it.”
The Mead/CUSA Cup kicks off a weekend of soccer, starting with their team reception this Friday at the Dayton Marriott. More information about the tournament can be found at www.cusasoccer1.com.
PHOTO: Robert Atkins, 27, of Outback Steakhouse, prepares steaks for the volunteers on the portable grill used to cater events. The reception was held at the Yankee Trace Golf Course clubhouse on Sunday, Aug. 27.