Over 100 conference attendees and exhibitors participated in the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s fifth annual Community Service Day, restoring Britannia Community Services Centre’s soccer field in Vancouver.

RIMS conference attendees built and repaired players’ benches, refurbished a mural and painted the center’s Micro Footie equipment container. The center’s Micro Footie program helps children aged four to 15 develop knowledge, skills and attitudes toward positive involvement in sports in an area where over 40% of families live in poverty.

Nearly 800 youth from the Grandview-Woodland and Strathcona communities on the east side of Vancouver took part in the center’s soccer league last year.

“The whole community center was put together in the mid-1970s and it’s a little bit frayed and sad around the edges,” said Penny Street, a member of the board of management for the Britannia Community Services Centre. “Having these people come in a big group like this to help us spruce things up is fantastic.”

Building materials, paints and brushes were donated by RIMS and Chicago-based Aon Corp., which has supported RIMS’ Community Service Day for five consecutive years.

“We look to support RIMS and its efforts to increase the visibility and excellence in the risk management profession,” said Jennifer Fahey, executive vp and head of sales and marketing for the U.S. operations of Aon Risk Solutions. “Being a global organization, we’re looking to support the community that supports the conference,” Ms. Fahey said. The insurance brokerage brought 400 of its employees to this year’s conference.

Representatives from soccer club Manchester United, which is sponsored by Aon, held soccer clinics for youth members of the center.

In addition to donating the supplies with Aon, RIMS also donated $5,000 to Britannia Community Services Centre in lieu of conference speaker gifts, said Ginette Gremillet, meeting and events planner for RIMS in New York, who researches local charities in the annual conference’s host city.

“This particular organization represented the people of Vancouver,” Ms. Gremillet said. “These are the people who live here and we want to show our appreciation for hosting us in their beautiful city and do anything we can to give back in any way no matter how big or how small.”

Volunteers at the Community Service Day included risk managers, vendors and students.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for competitors, who all come together at RIMS anyway, to share their products and services, to actually band together to do something for the community,” said Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc. “Separately we can all be competing against each other in the marketplace, but in this one six-hour period on a Sunday we come together and do things for the community.”

The benefits of coming together and networking went hand in hand for Bill Lally and Allen Kus, students at Illinois State University’s Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services in Normal, Ill., who painted a mural on a wall adjacent to the soccer field.

“It’s the one thing you just can’t get from a book or seminar,” said Mr. Kus, a junior at the Katie School double majoring in insurance and risk management and marketing. “Picking people’s brains will be the best thing about it.”

Donna Dernar, risk manager at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Assn.—College Retirement Equities Fund in Charlotte, N.C., manages portable pension plans for teachers and medical professionals who serve their community.

“Today’s event was just meant for me to be here because I need to help and serve where I can,” Ms. Dernar said.