My sincere apologies to my friend Jack Schmitz who was kind enough to contribute to the October DI Forum. Through my carelessness in the proofing stage I inadvertently incorrectly published his company name. The company Jack has worked hard to develop into a premier brokerage service provider for producers is DI & LTC Insurance Services. I encourage you to reach out to Jack to discuss any disability insurance questions or needs you or your clients may have. Jack can be reached at DI & LTC Insurance Services, 4302 Redwood Highway, #400, San Rafael CA 94903. Telephone: 800-924-2294. Email: [email protected].[SPH]
The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage volunteerism among NAILBA members and provide grant funds to worthy charitable organizations that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate, with a special emphasis on children. Every charitable organization applying for grant funding must be sponsored by a NAILBA member agency. To donate or view lists of grant recipients, or to read about some of the previous grant recipients and how donations are put into action, visit www.nailbacharitablefoundation.org.
One political “hand” would have you believe that they and their sycophants are the only socially concerned coven in this country and would prove it by mandating all forms of labyrinthian bureaucratic safe havens for their like-minded cronies at taxpayer expense. It reminds me of the time I was forced to return a large sum of advertising revenue justly earned to a state enacting a nefarious “Preferences” legislation that mandated “All Vendors” (Yeah, right! I didn’t see where the electric company or the telephone company were similarly served) to return all monies earned in the past year from a health insurance company that had been seized by the state—ostensibly to provide a fund to help policyholders who found themselves devoid of coverage. The particularly galling problem being that the official documents listed the first eight, by priority, payees from the fund—all attorney firms. Any remaining funds (almost laughable now with the passage of time) would be evenly distributed to claiming policyholders. I hope each enjoyed their state government-mandated Big Mac. But I digress.
Most Americans are right-handed. Likewise, most of the representatives of the insurance industry I encounter, including those met through NAILBA, seem to favor that hand. (For purposes of this column I am excluding those wonderful lefties that donate as well—let’s not cloud the issue with the facts.) My, until now, obscure point is that the NAILBA Charitable foundation has, since 2002, distributed literally millions of dollars of charitable grants to worthy charitable organizations that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate, with a special emphasis on children. That’s the charitable arm of an organization serving an industry often demonized by the liberal media and left-leaning politicians as monolithic and heartless. Don’t even get me started on checks to the disabled or widows and their children.
And, unlike their bureaucratic counterparts, the Foundation administrative costs that come out of the donation pool are infinitesimal—the vast majority of all funds going directly to charities in need. Due to the generosity of NAILBA members and corporate partners, in 2018 the NAILBA Charitable Foundation was able to award $225,000 to these local charities:
- Wounded Warriors Family Support, Felton Grant Award Winner, $45,000, Omaha, NE, (Sponsored by Art Jetter, Art Jetter & Company).
- Caruso Family Charities, $25,000, Lakewood, CO, (John McWilliams, Colorado Brokerage Group).
- Mauzy Foundation, $21,389, Alamo, CA, (Jeff Mooers, H. D. Mooers & Co.).
- Rainbows for Kids, $20,000, St. Louis, MO, (The Marketing Alliance).
- Reset Mentoring, $16,000, Leander, TX, (Parks LaMarche, CPS Integrated Marketing & Insurance Services).
- Caring for Kids, $15,000, St. Louis, MO, (The Marketing Alliance).
- Downtown Ministries, $11,908, Athens, GA, (Chad Milner, The Milner Agency).
- Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments, $10,000, St. Louis, MO, (The Marketing Alliance).
- Lotus House, $10,000, Miami, FL, (Robin Landers, Landers-Stein & Associates).
- Promises 2 Kids, $10,000, San Diego, CA, (Steve Sublett, CBIZ Life Insurance Solutions).
- Salina AM Chapter of AMBUCS, $10,000, Salina, KS, (Dex Umekubo, Producer’s XL).
- Warming House Youth Center, $10,000, Wilmette, IL, (Steven J. Brown, Brown, Brown & Gomberg).
- Jester & Pharley Phund, $6,000, Palos Verdes Estates, CA, (Lynne Rosenberg Kidd, Innovative Solutions Insurance Services).
- Jamie’s Dream Team, $6,000, McKeesport, PA, (Ryan Moad, Underwriters Brokerage Services).
- Children’s Cancer Network, $5,000, Chandler, AZ, (Dave Chittenden, The Chittendens).
It has been my great honor and privilege to serve on the Foundation board for the past six years, an opportunity that, due to some type of confounded legaleze, is due to officially expire at the end of this year. I want to add my voice to those in the NAILBA family and, I hope, the entire industry, in saying to my fellow donors and volunteers, “Thank you, for a job very well done.”[SPH]
