When you’re building community, you can’t go wrong with food: Just ask the folks at Chicago-based Association Management Center. Each year AMC plans a series of small events throughout a single week “to help bring the staff together and celebrate the company and our client associations,” says Bruce Hammond, senior manager for corporate marketing and communications.

Highlights of the 2014 AMC Week, held last summer:

Monday: Salsa and guacamole cookoff. In this Iron Chef-style event, teams were challenged to create their best salsa and guacamole from a few ingredients. Participants who could correctly answer AMC trivia questions were awarded additional ingredients. A panel of lucky judges sampled the smorgasbord and chose the winning salsa and guac teams.

Tuesday: Bake sale.** More than 20 AMC staff members shared their favorite homemade goodies.

Wednesday: Neighborhood walk. AMC made sure to build some exercise into the mix. More than 50 staffers took a leisurely ­one-mile walk around a local neighborhood to get some fresh air and visit away from their desks.

Thursday: Meal-packing service project. Here, the food focus turned ­outward. Staff members packed 10,000 meals for [Kids Around the World](http://www.kidsaroundtheworld.com/?page_id=393. The bagged, soy-based meals were sent to an orphanage and school in Haiti.

Friday: Cupcake day. AMC closed the week on a sweet note with a free treat brought by a local cupcake truck.

AMC Week “helps staff reconnect, celebrate our culture, and, this year, give back to a great cause that is providing a much-needed service to kids in need,” says Hammond.—Julie Shoop

(Association Management Center)