IICF Week of Giving: How the insurance industry gives back
The IICF Week of Giving brings companies and competitors together to participate in volunteer projects. Here is one insurance professional’s story.
A woman opens her front door and is greeted by me and a Philadelphia firefighter.
“Do you have a smoke detector or carbon monoxide alarm/?” I ask the woman. She shakes her head no. “Do you mind if we install one for free?” I ask.
You can almost hear her thinking, “What’s the catch?” But then we begin to talk some more. Slowly, the doubt melts away, replaced by gratitude.
As we walk up and down the street, there are similar conversations. In almost all cases, the people we meet are thankful someone cared enough to knock on their door and provide some help.
This is the type of community outreach that gives my work as an insurance professional a sense of meaning and purpose. And it’s why I circle my calendar every year in anticipation of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s (IICF) Week of Giving.
The numbers behind the Week of Giving are impressive. Last year more than 10,000 people provided nearly 29,000 hours of volunteer service in 173 cities. But that only tells a small part of the story.
For me, the real impact comes from the way everyone in our industry — interns, new hires, managers, all the way up to the CEO level — rolls up their sleeves and works side by side. Together, we’re working to improve the lives of people within our individual communities. The power of that teamwork is amazing.
Related: One insurance agency’s commitment to community service
Discovering (and meeting) a city’s true needs
I live in New Jersey, but I work in Philadelphia. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the City of Brotherly Love. But when I started volunteering during the Week of Giving six years ago, my bond with the city grew so much deeper.
Take the smoke alarm example. As insurance professionals, we all know such safety devices are important. But in Philadelphia, 60% of the population lives in row homes. And in a row home, one small fire can be devastating because it can impact every other house in that row.
To meet this need, the IICF’s Philadelphia chapter joined with the Insurance Society of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Fire Department a few years ago to distribute and install smoke detectors. Each year, we walk block by block and hand them out until there aren’t any smoke detectors left.
To shake the hand of a woman whose life you might’ve saved by installing a smoke detector is priceless. And we know this outreach saves lives, not just from a risk mitigation perspective or various other data points. The Philadelphia Fire Department has been able to share stories with our Week of Giving volunteers about people escaping fires in the homes where we’ve previously installed these detectors. It’s one thing to know the work you do on a professional level has a positive impact on people’s lives, but it’s something else entirely to know that something you’ve put your back into with your time and effort has saved lives.
The Week of Giving offers everyone in our industry a chance to experience that feeling in countless little ways.
Some of my favorite volunteer projects apart from annual smoke detector work have involved helping children in need. During one of my first Week of Giving assignments, we helped an elementary school create a library (not every school has one in today’s world of razor-thin education budgets). The insurance organization I was with at the time collected more than 1,000 books for every age group. About 15 of us set up the library. When we finished early, my fellow volunteers and I pitched in to help on smaller projects the school needed to complete. The enthusiasm of these insurance professionals to give back was inspiring.
I’ve also volunteered during the Week of Giving, and at other times of the year, to support children through an organization called Candles to Crayons Philadelphia. We assembled “KidPacks” — kits with a week’s worth of clothing — that are distributed to children in need. It’s a blessing to be able to work with your colleagues and make such a difference. It’s also emotional. I broke down a couple of times when I reached into a bin, couldn’t find a certain size coat, and realized that meant that child wouldn’t get one.
Related: Insurance executives highlight industry’s philanthropic causes at IICF’s 2018 Media Roundtable
Opportunities abound
This year during the Week of Giving, my employer, Zurich North America, is involved in three large-scale volunteer projects with Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House and a Philadelphia nonprofit named MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance), which provides free meals and nutrition counseling.
Zurich North America is also teaming up with a local law firm, Post & Schell, to complete smaller projects, such as writing letters to troops or putting together kits with clothes and essentials for homeless people. No matter your role, your age or your title, the Week of Giving offers our industry’s professionals multiple ways to get involved.
As a millennial, I share my generation’s thirst for finding work that’s both professionally and personally fulfilling. Our generation looks to our leaders to show us what’s important, and the commitment of so many insurance organizations to support and promote the Week of Giving speaks volumes. When I see my manager working hand-in-hand with me during the Week of Giving, it shows me I’m working with people who truly care about making life better for others.
This type of outreach also impacts the way people view those of us working in insurance. We’ve always been known as the silent force helping people put parts of their lives back together after natural disasters and other tragedies. Now, people also see the impact we have on the cities and communities where we work. The Week of Giving continues to inspire me to volunteer, and I hope it inspires others within our communities to do the same.
Editor’s note: The IICF Week of Giving runs from Oct. 13 to Oct. 20, 2018. If you haven’t signed up to volunteer yet, there’s still time. Visit the IICF Week of Giving website for more information.
Related: Celebrating Texas-sized pride over IICF’s Southeast Benefit Dinner
Denise Hunter is a business development leader with Zurich North America in Philadelphia and a member of the board of the Philadelphia chapter of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. Denise can be reached at denise.hunter@zurichna.com.