“Walking for Ben”
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| Nancy Gamble of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay Area chapter shares a moment of remembrance after last year’s first Walking for Ben event.
From left, Rough Notes President and CEO Walter J. Gdowski presents the 2004 Community Service Award to Clare and Jim McGovern at a ceremony in Indianapolis last month. Congratulating them is Robert Kretzmer, Executive Director of The Rough Notes Company’s Community Service Award. |
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This year’s winner was inspired by a personal tragedy in his own family to take action in the battle against blood-related cancers. In 1999, Jim McGovern and his wife, Clare, lost their two-and-a-half-year-old grandson, Benjamin, to megakaryoblastic leukemia, an extremely rare form of the disease that seldom afflicts youngsters.
Several years later, after participating in a 24-hour walk honoring Ben that benefited the American Cancer Society, employees of James E. McGovern Insurance, Inc., began to visualize a similar benefit that would be known as “Walking for Ben.”
The first “Walking for Ben” took place in the spring of 2004 at Burgess Park in Menlo Park, California. The event was a remarkable example of the kind of community service and local pride that can be manifested when a region’s citizenry and its business and government sectors join forces in philanthropy. Two municipalities, the cities of Belmont and Menlo Park, officially proclaimed May 8, 2004, “Walking for Ben Day.”
As Jim McGovern and numerous volunteers worked enthusiastically toward a successful “Walk for Ben,” their promotional efforts encouraged roughly 400 walkers to participate. From donations by the entrants and their sponsors, from ordinary citizens via a specially designed Web site, and through major contributions by regional businesses, the walk generated more than $200,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay Area Chapter. The national average for similar first-year fundraisers is rarely more than 10% of that figure.
Michele Thompson, the chapter’s executive director, acknowledges McGovern’s dedicated assistance. “His leadership and philanthropic endeavors have made him an inspiration to many … Because of Mr. McGovern’s tireless efforts we are able to fund critical research so children like Ben can lead healthy, fulfilling lives free of blood cancer. Jim McGovern brought many wonderful people together in our community to support the 2004 campaign. It wouldn’t have been a success without him.”
Assisting McGovern in bringing “Walking for Ben” to the attention of the community and its leaders were his own agency’s employees. Aside from the special Web site they designed, posters, banners, and a brochure featuring Ben’s story were distributed to encourage involvement. In volunteering their financial and promotional assistance, three corporate sponsors—department store giant Nordstrom, Greater Bay Bancorp and its five San Mateo County branches, and Rotary District 5150—lent additional credibility to the project. Several local firms, along with the San Francisco Giants and the Stanford Park Hotel, also contributed merchandise or services.
Immediately following the 2.5-mile walk, participants enjoyed a barbecue, live music, and various entertaining presentations—many of them conducted by Jim McGovern.
Fred West, of South San Francisco, is Immediate Past Governor of District 5150, a 36-club, 2,200-member Rotarian organization. He nominated McGovern for the 2005 Rough Notes Community Service Award. West suggests that Rotary and Jim McGovern are virtually synonymous.
“Rotary meets weekly, and I believe that Jim has never missed a meeting in the 37 years or so that he’s been a member. Twice during those years, he served as our local club’s president. He was our assistant district governor recently and had been chairman of a Rotary Scholarship fundraiser that brought in $250,000. No matter what the project is, sponsors and charities can count on Jim for assistance and leadership. And he’s so good at getting others to help, too.” In connection with the “Walking” project alone, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society estimates that more than 1,500 persons were directly involved by making donations, by obtaining sponsors, by forming teams of walkers, or by donating blood.
Jim McGovern has been an insurance professional since he and his wife settled in Belmont back in 1963 when he opened his brokerage with just one other employee. Today Jim and his daughter, Sylvia McGovern, are co-owners of their successful agency that focuses on a clientele of small to medium-sized contractors and developers. The McGovern agency has 18 employees. In addition to Sylvia, Jim and Clare are parents of four boys who, among them, have five children.
Prior to establishing his business in Belmont, Jim was an underwriter with Continental Insurance after serving in the U.S. Army for two years as a JAG court reporter.
As an encore to its extremely successful “Walking for Ben” project, a similar program, to be combined with the Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay Area’s annual “Light the Night” walks for blood cancer research, will take place this coming October. Dedicated community service advocate Jim McGovern was invited to be the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society chapter’s 2005 fund-raising chairman.
To no one’s surprise, he gladly accepted.
A $5,000 check is presented by The Rough Notes Company to the winner’s designated charity. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay Area chapter is the recipient of this year’s award in the name of James E. McGovern Insurance, Inc. The specified charity of each following Honorable Mention honoree receives $1,500.
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William D. Madison |
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William D. Madison—Modoc Insurance, Alturas, California. Designated charity: Service Clubs, Inc.
Alturas, California, is a community of 3,000 residents located in the state’s northeast corner. Bill Madison created and organized the “Great Pit River Duck Race” to benefit the local Service Clubs, Inc.
Madison has owned Modoc Insurance Services in Alturas, his hometown, since 1989. His insurance career began in the state of Washington in 1976 before the Boyd Insurance Agency of Alturas invited him to move back home. Soon thereafter he founded the Alturas Sunrise Rotary Club and immediately became an active supporter of civic causes, including the development of a community park. The “Duck Race” would evolve from this undertaking ... but we’re just a little ahead of that story!
Years ago, four local service organizations, the Rotary, Elks, Kiwanis, and Lions—chartered as Service Clubs, Inc.—jointly obtained a $90,000 loan to purchase property and develop a Youth Park. After a few years, amid the declining rural economy of Modoc County (population 10,000), only Rotary could still make payments. The park’s planned development appeared doubtful. However, Bill Madison, always an enthusiastic mover and shaker suggested the “Great Pit River Duck Race” to generate funds to complete the park.
Madison proposed selling 3,000 rubber ducks at $25 each, to gross $75,000. Owner of the “winning” duck would be awarded a pickup truck. Runner-up prizes were also planned. Skeptical town officials agreed to proceed ... if Madison took charge. He did. With the assistance of his agency’s staff and aid from Rotary members, all 3,000 tickets sold. Madison himself signed a short-term note to purchase the grand prize.
The Pit River, at the edge of Alturas, was the actual race course. All 3,000 rubber ducks were dropped in the Pit simultaneously, then floated for about one mile toward the finish line to the cheers of an excited citizenry.
In conjunction with July 4th festivities, the “Duck Race” was conducted for five years, each time generating $75,000. By 2001, after Madison helped arrange for a $28,000 landscaping grant, Rotary Youth Park was completed. With ongoing refinements, it features several baseball and softball diamonds, three soccer fields, and livestock show grounds, along with grandstands, restrooms, and concession areas.
Dan Silveria, Rotary Club president, nominated Madison for the Community Service award to honor “... the efforts and dedication of Bill Madison and his agency’s staff.”
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James R. Pender |
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James R. Pender—Oswald Companies, Cleveland, Ohio. Designated charity: Camp Ho Mita Koda.
A quarter-century ago, Jim Pender and his wife, Kathy, became associated with Camp Matthew Salem, a summer camp for children with cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases because their son, Michael, was enrolled there. The Matthew Salem organization rented facilities on the grounds of the 75-acre Camp Ho Mita Koda just east of Cleveland.
Michael Pender eventually succumbed to his lung ailment. Understanding the importance of a camping experience for medically impaired children, since then his parents have been deeply involved in supporting Camp Ho Mita Koda.
Ho Mita Koda is an American Indian greeting, meaning “Welcome My Friend.” For nine weeks each summer the camp provides education and support to children coping with diabetes. Campers gain confidence by effectively learning to manage their disease.
Spearheading the “Focus on the Future” drive that generated $550,000 for the camp’s capital campaign is a prime example of Jim’s dedicated service. His chairing a drive netting $250,000 for a new bathhouse is another. He was president of the camp’s board in the mid-1990s and was a board trustee from 1981 to 1994. Through their family’s Michael Pender Memorial Foundation, Kathy and Jim personally contributed $40,000 for a cabin renovation program.
Joining the Oswald insurance organization after his Yale graduation, Jim Pender advanced to the firm’s presidency in 1965. In 1980 he was named chairman of the board of Oswald Companies, his current position. He is past chairman of Assurex Global, the nation’s fourth largest broker group; and he sits on the board of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. All the while the Pender family has actively endeavored to improve the lives of children through education, health and wellness, and spiritual growth. Jim has accepted numerous leadership and advisory posts with Ho Mita Koda and for the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland, the camp’s major financial supporter.
Pender successfully encourages other Oswald employees, along with business and civic leaders, to direct their volunteerism toward Camp Ho Mita Koda’s efforts to help children live well with diabetes. To the campers and the volunteers, Jim Pender is usually first in line to say, “Welcome My Friend.”
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Kymberly K. Clevenger |
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c—The Assurance Center, Knoxville, Tennessee. Designated charity: CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
The special advocates appointed by CASA of East Tennessee are concerned solely with protecting the rights of abused and neglected children in a five-county region around Knoxville. Clevenger serves this organization and its caring causes in multiple capacities.
She is president of the Knoxville Sertoma Club whose fund-raising efforts are directed toward CASA. Sertoma—Service to Mankind—is an international organization dedicated to philanthropic projects. In 2003, under Kymberly’s leadership, Sertoma’s first annual Blues Night Out generated $16,000, CASA’s largest single special benefit receipt of the year. Last year’s second annual gala netted $24,000 for CASA.
Beyond her fund-raising role at Sertoma, Kymberly works directly with and for the children whose welfare is overseen by CASA. Now a full-time insurance professional, she earned nursing certification in 1990. Her medical experience, with hospital emergency departments and Travel Nurse critical care units, proved to be a solid background for working with the children whom CASA assists. After successfully completing a specialized training course, she is now a fully accredited, court-appointed special advocate. Recently she assisted in finding permanent homes for six children. Another case involved five youngsters who would have been removed permanently from their mother had Kym’s medical background not enabled her to recognize the difference between abuse and medical procedure injuries. Currently, in following the progress of a child afflicted with a rare form of cancer, Kym regularly visits the victim’s and his siblings’ family and foster homes and subsequently delivers invaluable reports to the court system.
Kymberly combines her heavy volunteer schedule with a full insurance business workload as vice president at Knoxville’s The Assurance Center, Inc. Since 1996 she has managed the personal lines department and now oversees the commercial division.
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John R. Braddy |
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John R. Braddy—Braddy Insurance, Inc., Dillon, South Carolina. Designated charity: Dillon Revitalization Committee.
The South Carolina hamlet of Dillon (population just under 7,000) is situated along a southeast path from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach. Motorists who decide to linger awhile in downtown Dillon discover a revitalized community that, to a significant degree, is a tribute to the energy and leadership of John Braddy, CIC, AAI.
Braddy is the owner of Braddy Insurance, Inc., of Dillon, and is immediate past board chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of South Carolina (IIABSC). He is currently chairman of the Dillon Downtown Revitalization Committee, a post he’s held since the group’s 1999 inception.
IIABSC’s Jon A. Jensen nominated Braddy for the Rough Notes Community Service Award. Other endorsements soon followed, including those from a state senator, a U.S. congressman, and the City of Dillon mayor.
Two decades ago dozens of Dillon merchants had closed their doors when “big box” stores and strip malls effectively put them out of business. The “Historic City of Dillon” was steadily declining. John Braddy, who previously had spearheaded the successful renovation of the city’s theater and performing arts center, was recruited by Dillon officials to head a committee to revitalize the historic downtown section. The first two of three major improvement phases have now been completed. One-third of downtown buildings were once vacant. Now only four are. Six dozen applications for facade improvements were recently approved. When completed, the newly established National Register Historic District will have undergone a $1.5 million restoration.
“We never planned for this endeavor to be a quick fix,” Braddy emphasizes. “It’s not only beautification that we’re doing. It is a commitment to making downtown Dillon a successful and viable business location, and keeping it healthy.”
Rough Notes magazine is extremely proud to salute this 2005 class of insurance professionals who clearly exhibit the humanity and character that typify selfless, dedicated community service. Without question, they and the other honorees since 2000 annually raise the bar for succeeding years’ award recipients. In late 2005, Rough Notes readers will be invited to nominate next year’s Community Service Award candidates. We welcome your selections, recommendations, and especially stories of how insurance ladies and gentlemen are delivering philanthropic service to their communities. *
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