Arbella Insurance Group Employees and Charitable Foundation Make a Positive Impact in Communities Throughout New England and Beyond
The Arbella Insurance Foundation is proud to announce the donation of $3.5 million this year to support 639 different charitable organizations throughout New England. Since its inception in 2005, the Foundation’s donations have totaled more than $36.6 million. This year, the Arbella Foundation initiated a social justice program to proactively address racial inequities in housing, education and employment. Additionally, the Foundation provided continued support for long-standing partnerships and organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The need for corporate support is greater than ever,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman and president of the Arbella Insurance Foundation. “Many families continue to struggle with hunger and homelessness brought on by the pandemic. At the same time, proactive approaches to improving diversity, equity and inclusion must be funded generously. The Arbella Foundation along with Arbella Insurance Group employees and agents are pleased to play a role in supporting the varied needs in the communities where we live and do business. We’re proud of our efforts, our commitment and our teamwork in all the charitable areas we support.”
Arbella Insurance Group employees and independent agents remained extremely generous in 2021. Together, Arbella employees, agents and the Foundation gave nearly $1 million to many causes including food programs and organizations offering social services, healthcare, cultural enrichment and education services. To increase employee participation in charity events in-person and virtually, the Foundation also created the concept of Team Arbella to bring employees together. As a result, 15 percent of employees participated in 60 charity events. Furthermore, Arbella agents’ contributions combined with direct donations and matching gifts from the Foundation amounted to $600,000, which enabled the Foundation to support 257 different organizations.
“The Foundation’s finds great value in working with and supporting Arbella employees and agents who help pinpoint the needs of the local community,” said Beverly Tangvik, president of the Arbella Insurance Foundation. “Year after year, we have volunteers at local homeless shelters, walking to raise money for cancer research and donating food to stock the shelves of our local food pantries. When we can bolster their efforts with funds from our Foundation, we’re really making a difference in our communities and that’s something we should all be very proud of.”
Highlights among the Foundation’s 2021 charitable giving initiatives include:
Social Justice Initiative
In February 2021, the Arbella Insurance Foundation’s Board of Directors committed $5 million to create a Social Justice Fund. The Fund provides grants to organizations with innovative solutions-based programs addressing social and racial inequities in housing, education and employment. The funds will be distributed over the next five years and are on top of the Foundation’s current annual donations of approximately $2 million per year. In 2021, $783,630 was distributed to 28 different organizations through this fund.
COVID Relief Assistance
Recognizing the continued needs resulting from the pandemic, the Foundation strengthened its support of many nonprofit partners providing food, housing, education, and healthcare. The New England Center and Home for Veterans received funds to implement proactive measures aimed at keeping 100 permanently housed veterans and 200 transitional veterans healthy and safe, while continuing to provide needed services. The Foundation also assisted the Greater Boston YMCA summer camp in expanding their summer learning program to all campers, while the Weymouth Food pantry received assistance to meet increased demand by utilizing pop-up food pantries, provide delivery services to homebound neighbors and implement a weekend backpack program that feeds school children outside school hours.
The Let’s Drive Out Hunger program, now in its 14th year, collects contributions from any of Arbella’s nearly 500 agents and matches each donation on a two-to-one basis – up to $1,500 per agency to alleviate food insecurity. Due to the extreme need last year, Let’s Drive Out Hunger was also made available to Arbella Insurance Group employees who also donated generously. Since the program started, the Foundation and Arbella agents and employees have contributed more than $1.5 million to hundreds of food programs, including food pantries, food banks and homeless shelters throughout New England.
Beyond Local Communities
To further combat the pandemic, the Foundation donated to two separate organizations in India where many Arbella employees have family. Across the globe, when a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, the Foundation provided medical aid for earthquake survivors. And when several states in the U.S. were ravaged by tornados, the Foundation financially supported the efforts of the American Red Cross, who responded immediately to help those who lost their homes with shelter, food and necessities.
Bearingstar Insurance Charitable Fund
The Bearingstar Insurance Charitable Fund, a division of the Arbella Insurance Foundation, donated $94,000 to several organizations providing a wide range of social services and community programs to families and individuals. Employees at Bearingstar Insurance locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut identified several local charities to support including Cops for Kids with Cancer, the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, Grow Hope Foundation, Christmas Wish CT, Special Olympics CT and Connecticut Foodshare among others. Bearingstar employees also came together several times to walk for important causes that employees had a personal connection with including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of Darkness Walk, the Down Syndrome Association of CT, the Walk to Defeat ALS and the Birthday Walk.
For more information about the Arbella Insurance Foundation, please click here.
About the Arbella Insurance Group and the Arbella Insurance Foundation
Established in 1988, the Arbella Insurance Group (www.arbella.com) is an A rated company by AM Best, with more than $800 million in revenue and approximately $1.8 billion in assets. Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, Arbella is a customer-focused, regional property and casualty insurance company, providing commercial insurance products in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and personal insurance products in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
