AGENTS WILLINGLY PROVIDE
HELP
WITH BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
On a cool, bright morning in Indiana last October, insurance agents from several states gathered in the Rough Notes Company parking lot to unload a truck containing 880 boxes of food to be distributed to hungry children. The agents had come to feel, up-close, what it's like to bring food to those who do not take it for granted.
This and other "food drops" in which agents have played a major role are the brainchild of New Jersey insurance agent Al Singer who founded People Against Children Starving (PACS), a charity dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger in America. PACS has, so far, distributed close to 400,000 pounds of food through food drops such as the one in Indiana.
As agents quickly moved the boxes, each containing 100 meal supplements, into delivery vans, one of the onlookers was Mary B. Reynolds, director of corporate partnerships for Lighthouse Ministries of Indianapolis. Lighthouse, along with other local mission organizations, would see that the food reached hungry children within 36 hours. Reynolds explained what childhood hunger looks like in America.
"Just recently I was in a home (in Indianapolis) where a family had not had food for three days. The mother and father were drinking sugar water in order to sustain their energy while the boys had the last of the peanut butter."
That was no isolated situation, Reynolds said. "In Marion County (which includes Indianapolis) there are 19,000 children who will be hungry. That's how many are living in poverty. I get into these homes, and it's real."
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 Robert Kretzmer, CIC (above), a principal with Dygve-Kretzmer Insurance Services in Chantilly, Virginia, conceived the idea for the Community Service Award to recognize and encourage the tradition of independent agents' acts of charity. Last year the first award was presented to New Jersey agent Al Singer for his work in establishing People Against Children Starving (PACS). |
In 1997 Al Singer learned from a television documentary that 15 million children in the United States suffer from hunger each month. "I couldn't believe with everything this country produces that children would have to go to bed hungry," he said. Singer began devoting large amounts of his time to making a dent in the problem. He enlisted the help of others in the industry, making a video to show at meetings, and picking up corporate support from companies and agents. (See April 2000 issue, page 26). He partnered with Feed the Children, a 22-year-old charity that operates on a worldwide basis, and the food drops began.
Every PACS food drop is the result of an incredible confluence of generosity. Food companies are critical givers. Thus, a $5,000 donation from the Rough Notes Company, filling the semi-trailer in October, was able to purchase food worth approximately $60,000 at retail prices. Trucking companies donate to help move the food around the country to areas of need. And of course the contributors, including several insurance companies, have provided the funds.
"Because we're able to partner with organizations like this (PACS and Feed the Children), we're able to get food into the hands of families," said Reynolds. "Without their help, and without the help of the corporate donors, we couldn't get it done."
Steve Kerr, director of corporate partnerships for Wheeler Mission Ministries in Indianapolis, joined Mary Reynolds in accepting the Indiana food supply donation. "I'm so glad that the term 'stewardship' is not restricted to the church," Kerr said--"that companies like Rough Notes and that independent agents are committed to giving back." Kerr said that what insurance people do in their jobs and what a mission organization such as Wheeler does "in one respect are not all that different. We're both in the business of helping people make their lives better."
Paul Bingham of Feed the Children explains how his organization was founded 21 years ago when its founder gave 20 cents to a child in Haiti.
PACS--just the tip of the iceberg
Al Singer's establishment of PACS, for which he was awarded the 1999 Rough Notes/CPIA Community Service Award, "is just one example of the tens of thousands of charitable organizations which independent agents participate in and support," said Doug Miller, CIC, CPIA, president of Witting & Miller of New Braunfels, Texas. "Independent agents care about their customers just as they care about their communities. That's why they give their time, their talent and their prosperity to projects like this one."
Bob Kretzmer, a principal of Dygve-Kretzmer Insurance Services in Chantilly, Virginia, conceived the idea for the Community Service Award to recognize the extent of agent involvement in charitable and community service and to encourage even greater service within the industry. "The food drops started by Al Singer are symbolic of what agents do for others every day in their own communities," said Kretzmer. "There's a long-standing tradition of independent agents performing service in their communities."
Looking at the entries for last year's Community Service Award and listening to agents at the October food drop, Rough Notes editors have gotten a small glimpse of the breadth of agent service.
Doug Miller, who also serves as president of the CPIA Society, is passionate about helping youth. His agency sponsored a golf tournament, which raised $7,500 for a program helping youth in 21 counties around San Antonio. Peter K. Browning, CPCU, of Insurance Associates in Indianapolis, who also helped unload food in October, donates time to Habitat for Humanity. This being the 25th anniversary year for Habitat, the local affiliate plans to build 25 houses on 25th street in Indianapolis, Browning says.
Agents, like anyone else who does service work, seem to be most excited when telling stories of a personal nature. Frank Millsaps, a Mobile, Alabama, agent launched a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Mobile which helps abused or neglected children. As described in the April 2000 issue, he obtained tutoring for three siblings--ages 12, 10 and 8--who were under supervision of the court. He monitored their progress and eventually saw solid improvement in their schoolwork and home life. "Hey, it's fun," said Millsap.
Paul Bingham of Feed the Children, the $3 million organization which works in cooperation with PACS, says Feed the Children began in 1979 with a donation of 20 cents. Larry Jones, an evangelist, visited Haiti and gave 20 cents from his pocket to a child on the street. That child used the 20 cents to buy a roll and butter and a beverage--his only meal of the day. Jones returned to the United States and discussed his Haiti experience on TV talk shows, prompting farmers to provide silos full of grain to be donated to Haiti.
Agents have volunteered employee time to help read to elementary school students; organized clean-up/fix-up projects in disadvantaged areas; raised funds for youth organizations and hospitals; and served on virtually every civic board imaginable. No matter what type of service is involved, it is safe to say that those agents who perform them purely altruistically receive the greatest reward.
As charitable work unfolds, the satisfaction of helping others can be contagious. Sometimes vendors whose services are required for charitable events become excited participants themselves. At the Rough Notes food drop a sign vendor, The Bean Group of Greenwood, Indiana, provided a substantial discount when the owner learned of the nature of the event.
Entries for the year 2000 Community Service Award, which were due at the end of 2000, are currently being evaluated by Bob Kretzmer and the Rough Notes Company. The winner will be announced in the April issue. "The winning agent receives a crystal bowl, but more important, the charity with which the agent works, will receive a check for $5,000 from the Rough Notes Company," Kretzmer notes. *
Nancy Doucette, senior editor, and Rachelle Striegel, assistant editor, contributed to this article.