The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities and enriching lives, hosted the annual IICF Week of Giving, a celebration of the insurance industry’s year-round dedication to volunteerism, from October 14 – 21. Thousands of insurance professionals gathered across the US and UK to participate in service projects and give back to their communities.
“Ours is an industry committed to volunteerism and philanthropy and we’re proud to celebrate our collective impact during the IICF Week of Giving,” said Bill Ross, CEO of IICF. “We see the commitment of insurance professionals giving back through IICF each year and as we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation in 2024, we are energized and excited to continue offering creative and meaningful volunteer projects that benefit our nonprofit partners, neighbors and communities.”
IICF’s Week of Giving celebrates the year-round dedication and countless hours served by the insurance industry to benefit communities in need. In fact, a recent study conducted by IICF found approximately 93,500 insurance volunteers served 7.5 million hours in 2022, in addition to the insurance industry contributing more than $1 billion towards charitable endeavors.
Week of Giving provides essential resources and support to assist causes such as education, safety, food and housing insecurity, disaster preparedness, children at risk and more. Major projects from this year’s philanthropic celebration included:
- Midwest: For the fifth year, IICF’s Midwest Division hosted a special Early Literacy event with longtime nonprofit partner Breakthrough, serving families in Chicago. Approximately 60 children, ages 2-5 years old, were guided through fun and interactive literacy activities by 40 volunteers from several insurance companies. Open Books, another IICF nonprofit partner, helped make the day even more special by donating books for the kids to take home and providing a children’s storyteller at the event, which concluded with a group dance party.
- Northeast: Post & Schell, a board member company of IICF’s Philadelphia Chapter, organized and participated in 8+ Week of Giving volunteer projects across multiple office locations, with Manna, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Gift of Life Howie’s House, The Lehigh Valley Humane Society, Angels in Motion, Family House, Susquehanna Service Dogs, and the IICF Share the Warmth Coat Drive. Since 2017, Post & Schell’s Week of Giving contributions have benefited more than 50 charitable organizations, helped diverse communities and directly helped people in need.
- Southeast: A record number of nearly 600 insurance leaders in Texas joined together in two cities in what has become a true Week of Giving tradition over the past ten years to honor fallen soldiers and their families. Volunteers representing more than 32 companies in the IICF Southeast Division worked side by side, washing more than 45,000 headstones of fallen US servicemen and servicewomen at the Dallas Forth Worth and Houston National Cemeteries.
- Western: IICF’s Pacific Northwest Chapter started the Week of Giving off with a Fill the Truck Food Drive, in Seattle and Portland, which provided 2,000+ meals to Sunshine Division (OR) and Rainier Valley Food Bank (WA), with IICF volunteers packing bags and sorting donations at the Rainier Valley Food Bank as well. Pacific Northwest leaders also delivered a unique “Insurance 101” presentation, from why insurance is needed to what an insurance career can look like, to Summer Search scholars and young adults. Summer Search works with resilient low-income high school students and inspires them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, college advising and more.
- UK: Members of IICF UK’s Associate Board volunteered their time and professional experience during Week of Giving with the clients of Women’s Inclusive Team, an IICF grant recipient charity that provides training and community services to ethnic women in East London. These insurance leaders conducted one-to-one CV and interview sessions with six women supported by the charity before joining with the Women’s Inclusive Team volunteers to make dozens of samosas for an upcoming art event hosted by the charity.
Save the date now for the IICF’s 2024 Week of Giving, taking place from October 12-19. Learn more and register for IICF’s volunteering projects throughout the year at http://www.volunteer.iicf.org/.
About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) is a unique nonprofit that unites the collective strengths of the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives through grants, volunteer service and leadership. Established in 1994, IICF has served as the philanthropic voice and foundation of the insurance industry for close to thirty years, contributing more than $45 million in community grants along with over 325,000 volunteer hours by more than 115,000 industry professionals. IICF reinvests locally where funds are raised, serving hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations, for maximum community impact.
IICF is a registered nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Learn more at www.iicf.org or follow us on social media at: LinkedIn and Instagram