Big ‘I’ Katrina Relief Fund Donations Top $400,000

The Big “I” Katrina Relief Fund has awarded grants to more than 70 applicants from the Gulf Coast insurance community.

With more than $400,000 in the fund from more than 470 contributors, the Big “I” Katrina Relief Fund grants have helped many individuals and businesses devastated by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and there are plans to award more grants to those in need.

The Big “I” donated $100,000 to the relief fund, and coupled with the generous contributions of insurance carriers (Safeco Insurance, Zurich Insurance, OneBeacon Insurance, Allstate Insurance and Encompass Insurance), agents, brokers, Big “I” staff and state associations, the Big “I” Katrina Relief Fund is making a meaningful difference in the lives of many in the insurance community.

“I am proud of all of the Big “I” members from around the country who have contributed to this fund. It confirms what many already know, that independent agents truly care about their communities, their country, their customers, and their colleagues in the independent agency system when they need help,” Big “I” President Bill Stiglitz, an executive with Hyland, Block, and Hyland in Louisville, Ky. said.

Sharon Kuntzman works at Hancock Insurance in Waveland, Miss., and received a grant to help rebuild her home. “My hopes and dreams are to rebuild and refurnish my home,” Kuntzman said. “We have totally lost everything. A house is replaceable, but my agency…my community is gone. The heart of the community is still here, though, and donations like this prove we’re still living in a good society.

“I have so many positive things I could say. I think about them when I go to sleep at night, but it’s hard to express how we feel. The gratitude we have down here—the people that are giving and donating get us through the hard times.”

Aulton Vann, Jr., of Aulton Vann Jr. Insurance Agency, located in Pascagoula, Miss., had his office 1.5 miles off the beach. After Hurricane Katrina, Vann returned to see more than 5 feet of water in his office—nine computers, six typewriters, 11 file cabinets, seven desks and chairs, and countless paper and office supplies were all underwater.

“This grant was a tremendous blessing,” Vann said. “It helped us pay bills we didn’t know we’d incur—such as new plumbing, new hookups, and new office supplies.”

Loretta Johnson, president and CEO of Third Millennium Insurance & Financial Services in New Orleans, did not have a flood in her office, but was trying to run her agency in an 8th floor office with no power.

“This grant was quite helpful,” Johnson said. “We had to get our equipment and files out of the office and to Baton Rouge. This covered our moving expenses. We had to get people to haul huge file cabinets down eight flights of stairs.”

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