IICF Unites P/C Industry for Record Year of Giving

Article

Gillis, Ellis & Baker

Employees of Gillis, Ellis & Baker Insurance (GEB) spent a recent weekend fixing up the exterior of the Gentilly home of Eleonor Sheppard. The GEB team repaired siding, painted the home’s exterior and built safe steps through Rebuilding Together New Orleans, whose mission is to allow low-income families to live in safety, warmth and dignity. L to R: Casey Darden, Howe Hubert, Margaret Hubert, Eleanor Sheppard, Sharon Miller, Brooke Davis, Karen Crouch, Charles Eshleman, Hill Dupuy, and Regan Dupuy

SIUPREM

Siuprem Inc., an independently owned and managed premium finance company, based in Alpharetta, Ga., supports the fight against breast cancer by committing $5 for each commercial insurance policy financed, to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer awareness and research. Over the past six years, with the support of SIUPREM’s Independent Insurance Agency Partners, SIUPREM CARES has donated more than $250,000 to breast cancer awareness and research. The goal in 2016 is to donate an additional $70,000.

ITC

Once a quarter, Insurance Technologies Corp. (ITC) cooks dinner or lunch for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas.

Assurant

Through the Assurant Foundation, the company’s philanthropic organization, Assurant and employees support and partner with organizations that improve communities. One effort includes partnerships with Habitat for Humanity chapters across the country to help build affordable housing for families in need. With a focus on homes and property, employees donate time and sweat equity to make the dream of owning a home become a reality for low-income families.

Target Markets Program Administrators

Members of the Target Markets Program Administrators Association purchase, pack and ship more than 1,000 care packages to military men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the “Packages From Home” Initiative, TMPAA Charities has raised almost $50,000 to purchase the materials and shipping for these packages.

Higginbotham

In partnership with the Community Foundation of North Texas, Higginbotham created the Higginbotham Community Fund in 2010 to provide monetary support to nonprofits operating in Texas. Since inception, the Higginbotham Community Fund has amassed $638,787 in employee contributions and pledges, $481,481 of which has been granted to more than 100 nonprofits in Texas. In addition to fundraising, employees get involved by joining the Higginbotham F.O.R.C.E. (Family Of Responsible Caring Employees) and engaging in charitable activities organized by the firm. In late May, the Higginbotham Community Fund granted $15,000 to nonprofit organizations in the most devastated flood areas of Texas, including Austin, Corpus Christi and Houston where Higginbotham has offices. Also, 20 employees volunteered with relief efforts that cleared debris and repaired homes along Blanco River in Wimberley.

Gowrie Group

On Nov. 15, Gowrie Group launched its 12th annual Gowrie Challenge with a matching gift of $25,000 to The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries. Partner sponsors are providing an additional $22,500 in matching funds. Meeting this year’s goal of raising $125,000 will put the lifetime total amount raised by the Gowrie Group Shoreline Soup Kitchen Challenge over the $1 million mark. The agency is challenging local businesses and individuals to join together to help reach its goal. The Gowrie Challenge runs from Nov. 15 to Dec. 31.

Eagan Insurance Associate

Eagan Insurance Associate Cindy G. Paulin wears many hats in her active life, but during the holidays, one of her favorites is a Santa hat. For the last four years, Paulin has participated in Catholic Charities’ Christmas Adopt-A-Family program. With the help of Eagan co-workers, friends and members of the CPCU Society Deep South Chapter, Paulin collects money to fill the wish list of a family in need at Christmas. This year she adopted two families, with a combined total of 12 children. With the help of her “elves”, she delivered new bikes for each child, toys, gift cards, electronics and all the trimmings, far surpassing the items on their wish lists. In a heartwarming thank you letter, one of the children shared the words of the family’s 10-year-old who asked “Who does this?” to which her brother replied “Santa Claus, dumbo!.”

Starkweather & Shepley

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance’s Fred Tripp (former CEO of the agency) Walk for Wellness campaign raised funds and wellness awareness to benefit the local community. This year, Starkweather & Shepley teamed up with the Run for the Fallen Rhode Island, established to honor the memories and families of our Rhode Island fallen heroes who have died since Sept. 11, 2001. The Starkweather & Shepley Charitable Fund provides grants to local charities to give back to the communities.

Haylor, Freyer & Coon

In June, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc. partnered with ARISE for our “Corporate Days of Service”. ARISE is a non-profit, community-based organization that works to ensure that everyone, regardless of disability, has the power to make life choices and achieve their dreams. One of the ways they achieve this goal is through a 70-acre therapeutic horse farm which provides inclusive summer camp opportunities, horseback riding lessons and therapy for children with disabilities. Over the course of three days 65-plus employees painted barns, cleaned horse stalls and planted three large rain gardens to provide proper drainage for the new all accessible playground.

Charity begins at home… and in the office.

The year 2015 was a record-setting one for charitable giving and volunteering by property/casualty insurance professionals in offices across the insurance industry.

Leading the charitable activities for the industry is the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, or IICF, which held events across the nation in support of programs addressing education, children at risk, health and safety, disaster preparedness, and the environment.

The single biggest week for IICF and the charities it supports was its annual Week of Giving from Oct. 10-17, when the largest number of insurance industry volunteers ever, some 8,577 people in 76 cities across 30 states — provided more than 25,000 hours of service to community nonprofits.

During that week, insurance professionals took part in volunteer projects including food programs, veteran support, homeless programs, and early literacy.

“The Week of Giving represents some of the best that the insurance industry has to offer, with insurance professionals from coast to coast rolling up their sleeves to lend a helping hand to their communities and neighbors in need,” said Bill Ross, CEO of IICF. “It is truly heart-warming to see vast numbers of industry volunteers across the nation uniting to support such great causes.”

IICF’s focus on education has been realized swith its Early Literacy Initiative, which aims to provide literacy tools and resources to underserved children and their families. The program is entering its third year in partnership with Sesame Workshop. IICF has provided grants totaling $750,000 toward the implementation of Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day. This free, online bilingual program gives parents who may not be able to afford other learning tools the access to resources that support children’s early literacy development.

Ross says the initiative and partnership with Sesame Workshop have gone remarkably well. So well that Elmo even made an appearance at another popular IICF event in 2015 — the IICF Women in Insurance Global Conference held in New York City in June. This conference brought together more than 420 professionals from 10 nations for three days of discussion on gender and diversity in the insurance industry.

“During our women’s conference we had a number of executives that were interviewed by Elmo,” Ross said.

The IICF’s Women in Insurance series, which includes a global conference and regional forums, is the largest industry gender initiative today, according to Ross.

The IICF rotates the Women in Insurance global and regional forums biannually. The IICF has already begun making plans for its regional forums in 2016, which will take place in four cities in June. The Women in Insurance Regional Forums 2016 will take place in New York on June 9; Chicago on June 13; Dallas on June 21 and Los Angeles on June 23.

Across the Pond

The IICF also expanded its philanthropic reach across the pond this year– making London its first-ever international chapter.

“Our expansion into the U.K. is a monumental occasion for the IICF, as well as for the entire insurance industry,” said Gary Petrosino, executive vice president at Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. and chairman of IICF’s Board of Governors. “Our growth into the international community represents an important evolution in the insurance industry’s rich tradition of giving.”

Ross said that the IICF model of competitors in the insurance industry coming together and collectively working on behalf of the community in its philanthrophic efforts is somewhat unique in the world, including in the UK.

“To our knowledge there is only one other organization like ours in the U.S. to represent the entire industry and in the UK it’s fairly unique as well,” Ross aid.

Wendy Wilder is serving as the executive director of IICF’s London Division. Wilder brings with her 16 years of strategy and corporate responsibility experience in the private and non-profit sectors in Europe, North America and Asia. Notably, she was head of strategy and planning for AIG UK for three years and also has held consulting roles at Ernst & Young, Charities Aid Foundation, and the Bangladesh-based CSR Centre.

The London division has already held its first annual fundraising dinner and has several events planned for 2016, Ross said.

“Funds will be used to support a local grant program similar to the other divisions, first with a focus on the London area but the division plans to broaden that focus later,” Ross said

Within each IICF division a local grants committee, evaluates and makes recommendations on grants. “Historically we raise money from that region and reinvest back in that region so we don’t take money from one region and move it to another,” Ross said. “It’s a local grants program and we try to understand local needs.”

Regional Giving

Aside from national events such as the Week of Giving, IICF held charitable events across its regions, including:

IICF’s Northeast Division hosted its annual softball tournament in Central Park in July. Here, 12 teams of insurance professionals from various companies came together to raise $50,000 for Our Military Kids, a nonprofit supporting military children.
In the Midwest Division, IICF’s Rock for Charity event in Chicago entailed of a battle of the bands, where insurance company bands competed to raise $37,000 and grant $25,000 to local Chicago charities. Cleveland’s Oktoberfest brought 350+ insurance professionals together to raise $80,000 for local charities.
Insurance professionals also came together under IICF to support relief efforts in Texas after severe flooding, raising over $70,000 in funds on behalf of IICF’s Texas/Southeast Division.
In the Western Division, over 100 insurance professionals attended IICF’s Insuring the Children Golf Tournament, which raised $93,000 for the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Orange County.

IICF has also hosted several benefit dinners this year to support local grant programs. These benefit dinners include the Western Division’s Club100 Dinner, the Midwest’s Blazing the Trail Benefit Event, and Lone Star Legends Benefit Dinner. These events, alongside IICF’s 9^th annual Northeast Benefit Dinner, which recently raised $1.26 million in grants for the Northeast division, have united insurance professionals across various companies to give back to their communities in 2015.

Related: