QUINCY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Arbella Insurance Foundation (“Arbella Foundation”) is proud to announce the donation of $2.8 million as well as 1,600 Arbella Insurance Group (“Arbella”) employee volunteer hours in 2015 to not-for-profit organizations throughout New England.
Once again, Arbella employees supported local organizations by volunteering, organizing and contributing to a wide variety of causes. “Our employees and independent agents are enormously valuable because of their outstanding work both in the office and in their communities,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman of Arbella’s Foundation. “Our Foundation finds great value in working with and supporting Arbella employees and agents because they give us a deeper understanding of local causes and our neighbor’s needs. Their compassion and proactivity enables us to allocate our funds directly to where there is need.”
Highlights of Arbella and its Foundation’s 2015 charitable giving initiatives include the following:
- Supporting Arbella Employees in Charitable Giving: Arbella’s Foundation distributed more than $133,000 in support of a range of causes that were meaningful to Arbella Insurance Group employees. The Foundation supported employees who took part in 152 charity walks and other events and also matched donations made by employees to various nonprofit organizations. Arbella’s employees further strengthened the Foundation’s partnerships with local organizations by participating in 61 volunteers events.
- Partnership with Arbella’s Independent Agents: Arbella’s independent agents and the Foundation together donated more than $778,000 in support of a variety of local causes. Arbella’s independent agents are actively involved in their communities and help the Foundation identify local needs. Over the past 10 years, the Foundation and Arbella’s agents have together donated more than $3 million toward local causes through its Agent Matching Gift Program.
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Youth Leadership and Development: Arbella’s Foundation deepened
its long-standing commitment to youth and development-related causes
in 2015, providing significant funds to a number of local
organizations:
- Arbella’s Foundation supports many local YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs. In addition to supporting youth programming at the South Shore Y, the Foundation’s commitment to the Greater Boston YMCA assisted in creating a new Teen Center.
- The Foundation donated meaningful funds to Crossroads for Kids and continued its longstanding support of Greater Fall River RE-CREATION, which provides Fall River residents and disadvantaged youths with educational and developmental programs.
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Homelessness and Hunger: The Arbella Foundation continued to be
a major advocate for homelessness and hunger relief in New England in
2015, supporting a number of local organizations:
- Arbella’s Foundation continued to serve as a major corporate sponsor for Project Bread’s annual Walk for Hunger. Together with 433 “Team Arbella” walkers, the Foundation contributed more than $85,000 to the Walk.
- The Foundation provided funding for the Rhode Island-based Three Square Meals program, providing a trailer filled with food to both Food Share in Connecticut and the Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston. Separately, the Foundation continued its long standing support of the Greater Boston Food Bank and contributed Arbella employee volunteer hours.
- The Foundation began its sponsorship of the American Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, focused primarily in Western Massachusetts.
- The Foundation donated meaningful funds and Arbella employee volunteer hours to Friends of Boston’s Homeless, which supports solution-oriented programs to end homelessness by helping homeless individuals move beyond shelter.
- Arbella’s Foundation provided support to South Shore Habitat for Humanity in addition to Arbella employee volunteer hours.
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Safe Driving: The Foundation built upon its long-standing
commitment to keeping drivers safe on the roads by allocating
significant funds to safe driving initiatives in 2015:
- The Distractology tour continued to be a key program for the Foundation, and celebrated its fifth anniversary. Since 2010, the tour has educated more than 11,000 new drivers in New England on the dangers of distracted driving. Arbella’s independent agents elect to host the program in their towns, and employees regularly volunteer.
- The Foundation continued its support of responsible driving initiatives as presenting sponsor of the “Be a HERO” designated driver program at Gillette Stadium, and by kicking off the fourth year of its Road Crew program with Live Nation.
- Veterans’ Causes: The Arbella Foundation strengthened its relationship with veterans’ causes by providing financial support to organizations including the Boston Harbor Islands Alliance Veterans Cruise, New England Center and Home for Veterans, and Mass Military Heroes that honors fallen heroes in Massachusetts and provides ongoing support to their families. The Foundation also contributed to American Warrior US, Inc. in support of the Connecticut Day of Honor, which honors WWII veterans from Connecticut by sending them to the National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. free of charge.
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Educational and Cultural Causes: Arbella’s Foundation proudly
supported several local programs in 2015:
- Arbella’s Foundation provided funding to 73 schools for bus transportation to the Commonwealth Museum, and continued its support of the BSO School Bus program that subsidizes the costs of transportation to attend Boston Symphony Orchestra youth concerts.
- The Foundation sponsored the Boston Celtics Stay in School program, a community initiative organized by the Celtics that partners with Boston Public Schools to recognize and award middle school students for perfect attendance.
- Arbella’s Foundation also continued its support of the New England Wildlife Center’s environmental and STEM education programs.
- Bearingstar Insurance Charitable Fund and Claims Offices: Arbella’s owned agency, Bearingstar Insurance, in Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as employees at Arbella’s claims offices in Massachusetts, continued to identify local charities that were supported by the Foundation. The Bearingstar Insurance Charitable Fund, a division of Arbella’s Foundation, donated more than $105,000 to a wide range of causes. Special Olympics Connecticut, Birthday Wishes, and local YMCA’s were among the recipients of these generous donations.
About the Arbella Insurance Group and the Arbella Insurance Foundation
Established
in 1988, the Arbella Insurance Group (www.arbella.com)
is a company with more than $800M in revenue with over 1 billion dollars
in assets, headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. Arbella is a
customer-focused regional property and casualty insurance company,
providing personal and business insurance in Massachusetts and
Connecticut, and business insurance in Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
Arbella Insurance Group founded the Arbella Insurance Foundation in
2004. The mission of Arbella’s Foundation is to engage in activities and
to support not-for-profit organizations that have a significant positive
impact on the people and communities served by Arbella.
