General Casualty will honor 111 employee volunteers by donating more than $16,600 to 96 nonprofit organizations of the employees’ choice as a part of the company’s Special Employee Recognition for Volunteer Efforts (SERVE) program. Employees work for General Casualty’s home, regional and branch offices, and Winterthur North America’s corporate office in Sun Prairie.
The Sun Prairie offices will hold an awards breakfast to honor employee volunteers on April 16 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. Each regional and branch office will host an event during National Volunteer Week (April 19-23).
Employees who volunteer 50 or more hours in a year are awarded $1-per-volunteer-hour SERVE grants, up to $500. The average SERVE participant volunteered 157 hours in 2003.
During the past two years, SERVE participation has grown 62 percent, partially due to the recently developed “Team General Casualty” concept. Groups of employees who volunteer together receive team T-shirts and disposable cameras to record their experiences courtesy of the company. Team General Casualty activities include running a water station at the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure® in Indianapolis; ringing bells for the Salvation Army during the holidays in Freeport, Ill.; helping host National Night Out events in Des Moines, Iowa, Sun Prairie, and Brookfield, Wis.; building a home for Habitat for Humanity in Minneapolis; as well as other events. In 2003, Sun Prairie teams’ volunteer efforts included raising money through the American Cancer Society Run/Walk; participating in the Henry Vilas Zoo “Feast with the Beasts”; preparing and serving dinner at the Salvation Army homeless shelter; and cookie decorating and collecting books for the Kennedy Heights Neighborhood Center.
“General Casualty has a reputation as a caring corporate citizen,” says Hollie Bowker, General Casualty’s corporate relations manager. “Our reputation comes from the extra hours our employees put in helping others in their communities. We’re proud to support our employees and recognize their goodwill.”
SERVE exemplifies General Casualty’s mission statement, which states: “By providing an essential service and committing our time, talents and resources to our community, we make it a better place to live, work and play.”
Since the SERVE program was established in 1996, the company has matched 73,098 hours with $73,098, benefiting almost 400 nonprofit organizations. In addition, General Casualty is a generous supporter of the United Way of Dane County. The company and its employees donated $214,008 to the United Way in 2003, ranking sixth on the private sector donation list.
For more information please contact Anne M. Smith.