IICF Donating to Red Cross for Sandy Relief Efforts

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Northeast division has committed to a donation of $50,000 from its reserves to the American Red Cross for relief efforts after Superstorm Sandy.

The IICF national board of governors has matched the donation with an additional $50,000 pledge.

“The Red Cross is a proven performer in crisis response, and its efforts and leadership have already sustained many lives since the storm hit the East Coast,” said Elizabeth Myatt, executive director of the Northeast Division.

“The IICF gift demonstrates the collective concern of the entire industry during this time of need in our community in the New York tri-state area,” said Myatt.

IICF Northeast has started a campaign to raise and add funds to the IICF Sandy Relief effort. IICF is accepting contributions via its website at www.IICF.org.

The funds will be donated as a grant from the entire industry through IICF. Part of the proceeds of the IICF Northeast division’s annual fundraising event in New York City, scheduled for December 12, will aid the relief effort, and attendees will be invited to make storm relief donations that evening as well.

IICF also is tracking industry contributions to disaster response. Substantial Sandy recovery gifts are already listed on the “Disaster Response” section of its www.IICF.org website.

“So many organizations — insurers, reinsurers, brokers, adjusters, and others — in the insurance industry will provide an unprecedented positive response with their products and services in the coming weeks, months and years,” Myatt said.

“Insurance is the key financial contributor to the storm response over the long term in the wide area where Sandy ravaged lives and property. But many of the immediate circumstances are dire and difficult, and go well beyond what insurance products were designed to do.”

“The insurance industry for a long time has supported its local communities with charitable efforts,” Myatt said. “The industry will continue and expand on this tradition, and in speaking with industry leaders I see that is already the case. IICF aims to be a catalyst so that companies and people in the insurance industry can come together to make an even bigger impact with their philanthropic efforts in storm response.”

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, a registered not-for-profit organization, was established in 1994 and is completely directed and funded by the insurance industry. The foundation helps communities and enriches lives by uniting the collective strengths of the industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. Since its inception in 1994, IICF has contributed more than $18 million in grants to charities and 163,000 volunteer hours to hundreds of community nonprofit organizations.