Volunteerism Feeds Employees’ Need to Serve

“It was like I gave her a million dollars.”

That’s how Sean Ramalho of Travelers described the reaction from a woman to whom he gave a blanket on a bitterly cold winter day while he was volunteering at The Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN), a charity based in Long Island, N.Y.

That type of one-on-one contact with a fellow human being in need is occurring more frequently in local communities, due to three factors that came together in fall 2010:

• Insurance industry employees’ strong desire to give back to their local communities;
• Companies’ increasing levels of support for employee volunteer efforts; and
• The leadership of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) in facilitating a Volunteer Week initiative.

Travelers’ efforts in serving the INN started when Lisa Tepper, Travelers regional president with 1,600 employees in the New York area, tasked all of the Travelers leaders in her territory to reach out to employees, invite them to get involved in Volunteer Week, and support their efforts. A board member with IICF’s New York/Northeast region, Tepper spotted opportunity when the region started organizing Volunteer Week in 2010.

Tepper knew many employees have a deep-seated desire to give back, but realized they needed opportunity, leadership and logistical support to make it happen.

Ramalho, second vice president of Travelers metro underwriting center in Jericho, N.Y., and a colleague got in touch with the INN to ask if the nonprofit organization could accept a donation if Travelers ran a clothing drive. “The contact person at the INN called back and said: ‘How about I come out and meet with you guys? I’ll meet with your entire office!’ Some 50 Travelers employees showed up for an initial informational session. “Twenty five of them were in tears,” Ramalho recalled, when they heard about the needs of people in their community and the INN’s efforts to help them.

Employees flocked to volunteer with the INN, which serves 300-400 meals each day and houses homeless families and individuals at locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island. “We had 12 or 13 people volunteering each day during Volunteer Week,” Ramalho explained.

With more volunteers than could contribute that first week, leaders organized a second week. They then decided to make a commitment to provide volunteers for the second Tuesday of each month. Nearly a year later, volunteers still work together in teams of 10 at the INN’s soup kitchen.

Many employees find that volunteering is both exhausting and energizing. “I am tired physically, but pumped mentally, when I leave there after a volunteer shift,” Ramalho reported, noting others report the same experience.

Other insurance firms also blazed a volunteer trail during Volunteer Week 2010:

• ACE aligned its annual global day of service with Volunteer Week. More than 2,000 employees across the country pitched in on the company’s 25th anniversary of its service day.
• Brokers The Sullivan Group and Heffernan Insurance Brokers had teams — along with several independent agencies.
• Chubb organized several hundred volunteers in several projects, including one with The Doe Fund that later led to a grant from IICF.
• Insurer Tower Group had numerous employees volunteer.
• Swiss Re workers helped build a playground in New York City.

More than 4,200 insurance employees logged time during Volunteer Week in just two divisions (Western and NY-Northeast), an initiative begun by IICF on the West Coast in 1998. Volunteers from a broad spectrum of industry employers — reinsurers, carriers, agencies, brokerage firms, consulting firms, law firms, trade associations and other industry-related companies — all pitched in. The 2011 Volunteer Week (Oct. 15-22) is already underway.

“So many people in our industry want to — or already do — volunteer locally for needs they care about,” explained David Brinkman, chair of the IICF New York/Northeast division board and executive managing director of Aon Benfield. “Not only is volunteering a productive thing to do to help the community, it’s good for business because it develops leadership, teamwork and morale.”

Myatt is executive director of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (www.IICF.org) New York/Northeast region.

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