Betsy Myatt, executive director of the IICF New York/Northeast division, commented: "Volunteer Week feeds insurance industry employees' strong desire to give back to their local communities, and supports companies that want to be active players in their communities. In the first year in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area, we expected about 1,000 volunteers. We saw double that. Insurance employers and employees alike see benefit from the community involvement and camaraderie of volunteer service."
Volunteers from a broad spectrum of industry employers -- reinsurers, carriers, agencies, brokerage firms, consulting firms, law firms, trade associations and other industry-related companies -- are expected to participate in Volunteer Week.
Teams can choose the projects they are interested in from a menu of projects in a wide range of needs, including disaster preparedness, education, the environment, housing, senior issues, women's issues, and youth and children. "IICF makes volunteering simpler by making initial contacts with the charities, so volunteers and their team leaders can make the most of the time spent hands-on working," Myatt said.
David Brinkman, chair of the IICF New York Division board and executive managing director of Aon Benfield, noted: "Volunteer Week works for charities, which receive the benefits of hard work, and often find new long-term volunteers and donors. Meanwhile, volunteers get a new way to give back in their local areas, while employers tell us that volunteerism encourages teamwork and builds morale."
About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation was established in 1994 and is completely directed and funded by the insurance industry. The foundation seeks to help communities and enrich lives by uniting the collective strengths of the industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. Since its inception in 1994, IICF has contributed more than $16 million in grants to charities and 140,000 volunteer hours to hundreds of community nonprofit organizations.