I am writing this column from an undisclosed location, fearing the wrath of the vast, uncountable, tens of protesters gleefully chronicled by the mainstream media marching on cities throughout the country chanting “Not My Editor And Publisher!” Let them eat cake.
Disregarding, for the purposes of this column, who should or shouldn’t be residing in the Bastille, I chose to attack another media mantra—that of the insurance company, and our industry as a whole, as a greedy, heartless plaything of the one percenters.
I’ve been blessed to be named to the board of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, where I’ve served for almost four years and have seen firsthand a small fraction of the great generosity our industry possesses for those less fortunate than ourselves. The NAILBA Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of NAILBA. 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.
Since 2002, Foundation grants have helped charitable organizations in the communities in which NAILBA members live and work. From 2009 to present the foundation had granted nearly $2 million to worthy charities and the Life Happens Scholarship Program. $985,000 in just the four years I have served on the board.
Through the generosity of NAILBA members and corporate partners in the past year, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation was able to award $220,000 this year to members’ local charities and Life Happens. Recipients included the Alexander Leigh Center for Autism, Crystal Lake, IL, sponsored by Bill Bovinette, Life Guys, Inc., Fountain Hills, AZ, recipient of the Col. J. William Felton III Grant, named after the NAILBA Charitable Foundation’s founder. (Pictured are Bill and Susan Bovinette, presenting the Felton Grant check to Kelly Weaver.)
Also receiving grants were: Caruso Family Charities, Lakewood, CO; Promises 2 Kids, San Diego, CA; CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services, Clifton Park, NY; Children’s Cancer Association, Portland, OR; Downtown Ministries, Athens, GA; Rainbows For Kids, St. Louis, MO; Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, AR; Amos House, Providence, RI; Child Help Children’s Advocacy Center of East Tennessee, Knoxville, TN; Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments, St. Louis, MO; Hooves to Heal, Marengo, IL; Simon’s Fund, Lafayette Hill, PA; Reach-A-Child, Madison, WI; The Arc of San Diego, San Diego, CA; Songs of Love Foundation, Forest Hills, NY; Children’s Cancer Network, Chandler, AZ; and Life Happens.
Over 250 carriers, vendors, BGAs and marketing organizations contributed to the NAILBA Charitable Foundation for the 2016 grant cycle, and of special note were particularly generous contributions from: Legal & General America, Prudential, Genworth, LifeMark Partners, The Marketing Alliance, AimcoR Group, Protective Life, BRAMCO, Foresters, National Brokerage Agency (NBA), and Mutual of Omaha.
For more information on the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, or to donate, visit: www.nailba.org/foundation/home.
My experience with charitable work in our industry is by no means limited to the NAILBA Charitable Foundation however. I applaud Brokers’ Service Marketing Group, Providence, RI, featured in each November’s issue, for organizing their premier producer engagement event around their annual charity golf tournament. In the 15 years that BSMG has held the event they have raised nearly $1 million for two deserving charities in their area and should be recognized as an organization that should be emulated by all.
Further, over the past two years I have run numerous news releases focused on carriers’ sizeable charitable endeavors, and run features on the efforts of National Life through their foundation and on Foresters and their contributions to children throughout the country. Up for 2017 is Allianz and their incredible work in their community, as well as others throughout the year. I encourage you to utilize these, and other stories with which you are familiar, to help sway public opinion one client or prospect at a time.
Our industry has paid out many billions in death claims in its history, and I doubt many grieving spouses or families have found those checks repellant. Yet the mainstream media has been diligent and surprisingly successful in painting the insurance industry as heartless. It seems to me that diatribes against our industry, and the collateral damage inflicted on those least able to cope with the tragic loss of a loved one by nurturing them to resent insurance companies as a whole and thus remain unprotected, are the acts of parties committed to an, at best, irresponsible agenda and with a truly heartless disregard for the people they claim to champion. [SPH]
