Insurance Foundation Awards Grants in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Midwest Division awards over $300,000 in community grants across four Midwest states. Marking its inaugural grant cycle, the IICF Midwest Division grants, largely ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, support eighteen non-profit organizations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri.
 
IICF is a national foundation committed to positively impacting communities at the local level. As such, the Foundation maintains a philosophy of reinvesting funds back into the areas in which funds were initially raised.
 
"The insurance industry is committed to supporting the communities we serve," said William Donnell, President of U.S. P&C, Swiss Re, and IICF Midwest Division Grants Committee Chair.   "By working together as a united industry through the IICF, we are able to increase our philanthropic impact to benefit the specific needs of our communities." 
 
Receiving one of the Midwest Division's first community grants is buildOn, an afterschool program that empowers urban youth to transform their neighborhoods through intensive community service and change the world by building schools in some of the economically poorest countries in the world.
 
"When urban youth realize the power they have to change lives, whether through local service or by building schools, they elevate expectations for their communities and for themselves," said Jim Ziolkowski, CEO and Founder of buildOn. "With IICF's support we will be able to empower hundreds of Chicago high school students to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectation, through service and education."
 
Alongside buildOn, inaugural Midwest grantees include:  Annie's Legacy, Bears Care, Bernie's Book Bank, Boys Hope Girls Hope, Chicago Youth Programs, Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, Clearbrook, Cornerstone Schools , Early Childhood Alliance, Girls on the Run, Glenkirk, Hesed House, Jackson County CASA, Jobs For Youth, Lazarus House, LYDIA/Safe Families for Children, and The Ounce of Prevention Fund. 
 
The Midwest Division focuses grant making in the areas of education, safety, and health. For additional information regarding the Midwest Division grant focus areas please visit www.iicf.org <http://www.iicf.org>
 
The IICF helps communities and enriches lives by combing the collective strengths of the insurance industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. Founded in 1994, the Foundation serves the Western United States, the Northeast, the Midwest, and Texas and the Southeast. IICF has contributed over $18 million and 166,000 volunteer service hours to hundreds of community nonprofits.  To learn more about the industry foundation please visit www.iicf.org <http://www.iicf.org> .
 
About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation was established in 1994 and is directed and funded by the insurance industry. The Industry Foundation helps communities and enriches lives by uniting the collective strengths of the industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. Since its inception, the Industry Foundation has contributed over $18 million and 166,000 volunteer hours to hundreds of community nonprofits. IICF is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.