Our industry does a great deal of good for the people of this country. In the midst of an abundance of negative leaning press and an undercurrent of “us against them” regarding insurance companies, I believe the good you do is being undermined. The fact is that the diligence of the insurance agent and the products offered by insurers are all that stand between millions of American families and financial devastation and the crumbling of their dreams. You, your BGA partners, and the carriers you represent do protect and care for the widows and orphans. It’s that simple.
Beyond that too often underpublicized good, however, our industry is rife with examples of organizations that reach out to further the opportunities of those less fortunate. Two I would like to focus on are the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) and Life Happens (formerly the LIFE Foundation).
I have the honor and privilege of serving on the NAILBA Charitable Foundation board and I’ve seen firsthand the generosity of literally hundreds of BGAs and carrier representatives at the annual NAILBA conference. Further, the list of regular contributors to the foundation takes fully two pages in their program (and this magazine) to recognize. This year through the generosity of these donors the NAILBA Charitable Foundation was able to award $265,000 in grants to deserving organizations in NAILBA member communities that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate, with an emphasis on children. Included in that total is $30,000 to the Life Happens organization for their Life Lessons Scholarship Program.
Following are the other grant award recipients for 2014:
Caruso Family Charities: $27,500, recipient of the Col. J. William Felton III Grant, Lakeland, CO (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Colorado Brokerage); Lone Survivor Foundation: $25,000, Houston, TX (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Four Seasons Financial Group); Wounded Warriors Family Support: $20,000, Omaha, NE (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Art Jetter & Co.); GlassRoots, Inc.: $15,000, Newark, NJ (sponsored by NAILBA corporate supporter Prudential); The Quest for Grace Foundation: $15,000, Rexford, NY (sponsored by NAILBA member agency National Long Term Care Brokers); We Care I.N.C.: $15,000, South Haven, MI (sponsored by NAILBA member agency LTCI Partners); Fresno Survivors of Suicide Loss: $12,380, Fresno, CA (sponsored by NAILBA member agency CPS Impact); Lighthouse Family Retreat, Inc.: $12,000, Norcross, GA (sponsored by NAILBA member agency The Brokerage Resource); Angel On My Shoulder: $10,000, St. Germain, WI (sponsored by NAILBA member agency CPS Horizon); Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments: $10,000, Richmond Heights, Mo (sponsored by NAILBA member agency The Marketing Alliance); Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area: $10,000, Danville, CA (sponsored by NAILBA member agency H.D. Mooers & Co.); El Viento Foundation: $10,000, Huntington Beach, CA (sponsored by NAILBA member agency CPS Insurance Services); NourishNC: $10,000, Wilmington, NC (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Financial Security Associates); Songs of Love Foundation: $10,000, Forest Hills, NY (sponsored by NAILBA member agency CPS Horizon); Casa Valentina, Inc.: $7,500, Miami, FL (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Landers–Stein & Associates); Ivy Hill Therapeutic Equestrian Center: $7,500, Perkasie, PA (sponsored by William J. Shelow, NAILBA member agency LifeMark Partners); More Than Sport: $5,000, Kailua Kona, HI (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Trumark); Reach-a-Child, Inc.: $5,000, Middleton, WI (sponsored by NAILBA member agency MVP Financial Services); Give Them Wings: $5,000, Hood River, OR (sponsored by NAILBA member agency CPS Impact); One Bright Star: $3,500, Mankato, MN (sponsored by NAILBA member agency Weilage Advisory Group).
The NAILBA Charitable Foundation is a public charity that receives gifts mainly, but not exclusively, from the membership of NAILBA and its corporate supporters. The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage volunteerism among the NAILBA membership and provide grant funds to worthy charitable organizations with limited operating budgets in local communities served by member agencies, with a special emphasis on those that enhance the quality of life for children. To make a contribution or receive more information about the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, please contact Kathy Allison, NAILBA’s director of membership and the foundation at kallison@nailba.org or 703-383-3072, or visit www.nailbacharitablefoundation.org.
In addition to all the great resources the Life Happens organization makes available to educate consumers and to help agents spread the word about the need for life insurance and disability income insurance via May’s DIAM and September’s LIAM campaigns, Life Happens also helps aspiring college students through their Life Lessons Scholarship Program. The organization recently announced the 2014 scholarship winners, awarding an unprecedented $180,000 divided among 47 deserving students to put toward their dream of a college education. This marks the greatest number of recipients and the highest level of funding Life Happens has provided through the program since its inception in 2005. Further, this is the fifth consecutive year that Life Happens has awarded more than $100,000 in Life Lessons scholarships, which was made possible by the generous financial support of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, the MDRT Foundation, LIDMA and NAHU Foundation.
“The Life Lessons Scholarship Program is a powerful reminder of the unintended consequences that can occur when a parent dies without adequate life insurance. Those left behind are faced with difficult choices, and far too often, aspirational life plans such as college have to be put on hold in order to address more immediate financial priorities,” said Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, president and CEO of Life Happens. “The program reminds us all of how important life insurance is to ensuring our loved ones have a financial lifeline to fall back on.”
To be considered for the Life Lessons Scholarship, students submitted an online application accompanied by either a three-minute video or 500-word written essay describing the emotional and financial adversity they faced after losing a parent who did not have adequate life insurance or no coverage at all, and how that affected their college funding plans. This year, Life Happens let the public play a role in providing two scholarship recipients from the video category with an additional scholarship. Each received an additional $4,000 as a result of people viewing, liking and sharing their videos through Life Happens’ Facebook page. The remaining scholarship winners were selected by a panel of judges consisting of members of the Life Happens board of directors, as well as executives from a number of leading insurance companies. The stories of this year’s top recipients can be viewed at www.lifehappens.org/scholarship-recipients.
Life Happens will accept submissions for the 2015 Life Lessons Scholarship Program starting February 2, 2015, through March 2, 2015. To make an individual, tax-deductible donation to help fund the Life Lessons Scholarship Program, visit www.lifehappens.org/donate. [SPH]
