News you can use

Nurturing a community garden and its young gardeners living in a children’s emergency shelter. Encouraging teen girls (many of them underprivileged) to acquire skills they need to fulfill their career dreams. Volunteering with two high school groups (football and music) to provide tutoring, college prep and scholarships.

The projects our three volunteers of the year participate in are as varied as the ladies themselves – but they all focus on children. Let’s meet the three: First place winner Brittany Rogers, underwriter II in automotive aftermarket from Overland Park; and from San Diego, our second-place winner Aisha Davis, workers’ compensation underwriter and third place, Angie Keus, vice president, residential earthquake.

Friends and coworkers who organize fundraisers, buy supplies, give and support a coworker fighting breast cancer. Who organize a golf tournament, company breakfasts and more for young girls with RETT Syndrome. Who travel nearly 3,000 miles to help rebuild a struggling island country struck down by a devastating earthquake. That’s the legacy of our Volunteers of the Year.

Pies in the face. Executives on tricycles. Yummy breakfast burritos and homemade lunches. River bed clean-ups. Stuffing backpacks for kids. Bake sales, walks and runs. Our coworkers love doing their part to both raise money for charities and serve on the front lines. It’s true – it IS more blessed to give than receive. Just ask our charity volunteers as we recap what our offices have been up to all year. 

Nicole Borden, underwriting account manager for Bellingham, not only participated in Whatcom County Relay for Life, she is also on the steering committee and headed the luminaria event. Relay for Life raises funds for the American Cancer Society. 

Charity begins at home. The home office, that is!

Our Carlsbad and San Diego teammates engaged in charity events every month in 2016, from gathering holiday gifts and school supplies to fixing meals and cleaning a riverbed. 

Early this year the sunny teams collected 45 much needed bath towels for the Toussaint Academy.  A group of volunteers sacrificed a weekend evening to prepare and serve 102 meals at the Ronald McDonald House. Our ACM coworkers raised $345 for RETT with their annual ValentineGrams. And a Coastal Clean-Up took place on March 15 where six volunteers joined forces with The San Diego River Park Foundation to spruce up the natural habitat at the mouth of the San Diego River.

The Overland Park team was definitely busy this past year with all of their hard work and contributions to charities like Make a Wish Foundation and NETS Developmental League. Check how these busy bees have made a difference in 2016.

Our Denver team focused their charity efforts on fighting cancer, helping coworkers and fund raising for a children's organization in Haiti. 

The Denver charity team consists of Melissa Claypool, chairperson, assisted by Janet Cooke.

When Jackie Miller, vice president and underwriting operations manager for OnPoint Underwriting, learned that a long-time friend was once again diagnosed with cancer after a 20-year hiatus, she began organizing friends and special events to help both her friend Steve who would be out of work for a very long time, and his wife who took time off to be his caregiver.

Our charity committees across the country have been busy bees. What have they been up to? Glad you are curious, because here is how they made an impact in their communities this quarter: 

As we continue our summer road trip, we’re heading toward the Midwest where our second largest office within the Arrowhead family of companies is based. Let’s get to know the folks running Automotive Aftermarket in our Overland Park, Kansas office and learn more about the American Heartland.