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Groups Take A Leap Of Faith

By LAURA FRAZIER

lfrazier@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

RIVERVIEW - Perched precariously atop a telephone pole, Kevin Frankel steadied his stance and trained his eyes on the prize - a plastic buoy suspended in midair about 10 feet out of reach.

Frankel, strapped into a safety harness and wearing a crash helmet, was a little leery about launching himself through the air to smack the buoy, then plunging to Earth with a bungee cord to break his fall.

"I hate this," he said through nervous laughter. Watching from below, his co-workers from Wachovia Bank chided him, then cheered him on.

"Do it for the 'W,'" said Matt Legg, referring to the bank's moniker. "Go for it! Become a bird!"

Frankel's team and four others from local businesses and civic groups put their physical and mental skills to the test Nov. 7 at the YMCA Corporate Challenge: Survivor!

The annual fundraiser, held at YMCA Camp Cristina on Balm Riverview Road, provides scholarships for kids and families who can't afford to pay for summer camps or recreational classes at the Y. Teams donate $500 each to participate in a daylong series of challenges modeled after the reality TV show "Survivor" staged around the Y's 65-acre outdoor adventure site.

They ran relay races, scaled a rock-climbing wall and flung themselves down a zip line. They launched balloon bombs at targets, fired arrows and, in a "Fear Factor"-style challenge, ingested questionable cuisine - including an acrid, oily mystery broth and a gritty dish identified only as "kitty litter."

Tammy Holmberg, honorary mayor of Brandon and team captain for the FishHawk Area Networking Group, known as FANG, said everyone on her team earned bonus points by eating a handful of freeze-dried, reconstituted mealworms.

"They taste like chicken," joked Holmberg, who owns the Chick-fil-A at Lake Brandon Village in Brandon.

Her teammate, Keith Balot, kidded, "Oh, everything tastes like chicken to her."

Holcomb said the FANG team members' strategy was to support each other through every challenge, just as they do in their networking group.

Karen Kennedy, who took one for the team in the egg toss, wore yolk stains on her T-shirt like a badge of honor. Rick Mara, the only contestant who managed to leap from the pole and smack the buoy, drew high-fives and attaboys from his teammates.

At the rock-climbing wall, Wachovia team captain Tyler Niermann said several of his teammates serve on the YMCA board of directors. They came to support the community and have some fun.

Drew Allen scrambled up the apparatus so skillfully his co-workers nicknamed him "Spiderman."

Jessica Summerville put her all into the wall. She planted her feet carefully onto each foothold and finally made it to the top, where Camp Cristina director Bryan Beckham helped her roll up onto the deck.

Beckham said a good time was had by all, and the teams raised a lot of money to help local kids and families spend some time at Camp Cristina next summer.

"It was great for everyone to come together to help the community," Beckham said.

SCOREBOARD

Five groups competed in the YMCA Corporate Challenge: Survivor! Here are the teams and the number of points they racked up:

South Bay Hospital

73,050

Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, Superior Residences

71,000

Wachovia Bank

66,600

Brandon Regional Hospital

63,700

FishHawk Area Networking Group