For many people, the holiday season brings out the best in us: a giving, peaceful spirit; but, for children whose families face severe financial hardship this month, the Christmas season is not quite as happy.

That’s why every year Primerica Home Office employees chip in to fulfill the Christmas wishes of some of the area’s needy children. This year, employees adopted 102 children from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Through this program, children submit a “need” list and a “wish” list. Wish lists usually contain toy and bicycle requests while need lists often include clothes, shoes, socks and coats. This year, the adopted Angels received every item on their need lists and the majority of the children received each item on their wish lists!

Cheryl Romage, HR Specialist, said, “The Angel Tree program provides more than holiday gifts. It gives kids the sense that someone cares. By adopting these 102 Angels, Primerica employees have, once again, demonstrated their generosity and caring spirit.”

Each year, Primerica employees go out of their way to bring some cheer to Gwinnett County, GA, children. It’s part of the company’s commitment to do what’s right for families … our clients and our community.

While other companies either ignore Main Street investors or cannot cost-effectively serve them, Primerica is leading the way in marketing financial solutions to the underserved middle market. And we’re being recognized for it!

Primerica Shareholder Services was recently awarded a Gold NOVA Award in Innovation in Customer Experience. Given annually by Money Management Executive magazine, the NOVA Award recognizes innovations in fund operations, as asset management companies embrace new technologies and strive to become more effective in serving their clients.

Primerica was recognized for our innovative products and technology, robust investment offerings and high quality client service, specifically the new Primerica Advisors Freedom Portfolios. Working with BNY Mellon Asset Servicing and Lockwood Advisors, Primerica implemented an online proposal generation system that is used to provide investment selections for the client, based on their personal investment objective.

Using the latest technology, representatives can generate investment proposals and set up investment accounts, and deliver statements and confirmations online using the latest version of Primerica’s TurboApps software.  This creates a more efficient middle and back-office workflow process, to better service the investor.  Primerica is leading the way in cutting-edge client service and top-notch products.

Together, our representatives, our products and our mobile technology are like none other in the industry. Using tools like TurboApps, representatives can meet with clients in their home and provide a high level of customer service that’s unparalleled in the industry. This award-winning service is just one more way Primerica is changing lives … one family at a time!

Primerica and its employees have a long tradition of volunteering time, resources and money to help improve our community. One of the long standing charity events our employees are proud to be a part of is the Gwinnett Coalition’s Great Days of Service.

In September, about 65 employees participated in this year’s project: revitalizing the Hi-Hope Center. Read the Gwinnett Daily Post’s interview with Renee Carter, Primerica’s program and events coordinator!

Primerica shared exciting news earlier today when we announced plans to move our international headquarters to a new state-of-the-art facility in 2013. The best part about this news is that it gives us the chance to serve our representatives and clients better.

With convenient access from Interstate 85 and Highway 120, we will be located on 30 acres inside Legacy, an 111 acre office park in the heart of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Our main entrance will be accessible from “Primerica Parkway,” which will be lined with Primerica banners to display our pride in the company.

Our new facility will be a centerpiece for our company and the dynamic community surrounding us. We have been proud to serve this state and the rest of North America for the last 34 years, and we are pleased that the new facility will allow us to better meet the needs of our representatives and our clients.

Our current campus includes 10 separate buildings, which is why we are looking forward to consolidating into one three-story building with two connected wings. The design of the new facility will allow us to streamline our business operations and greatly enhance our efficiency. The customized “build-to-suit” plan allows us to showcase Primerica and our exciting transition to becoming our own Georgia-based company following our successful IPO in 2010.

At our headquarters, we will be able to show visitors the way we’re working for our representatives, our clients and our community. We look forward to offering a tour unlike anything we’ve ever been able to do before. Watch the video below for a preview of what’s to come:

To join the conversation, head on over to Facebook to let us know what you’re most looking forward to about the new facility or tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The employees at Primerica’s home office in Duluth, GA, are another example of how Primerica helps make the world a better place. From raising money for cancer research and delivering meals to building houses and donating food, hundreds of Primerica employees gave their time, talent and resources to help their community in 2010. Take a look at the impact:

• Blood Drive: More than 227 Primerica employees donated 191 pints of blood to the Red Cross, saving over 573 lives.
• Relay For Life: Primerica team members help to raise more than $43,000 for the American Cancer Society.
• Gwinnett Great Days of Service: Sixty-five Primerica volunteers participated in the Great Day of Service event at Rainbow Village in Gwinnett County. Projects included major landscaping, a patio redesign and the construction of an outdoor play-set.
• Volunteer Day with Habitat for Humanity: Sixty employees worked with Habitat for Humanity to build a townhome for a deserving family in Tucker, GA.
• Meals on Wheels: Primerica employees helped deliver more than 100 meals each week to homebound seniors in their local community.
• Mentoring Program: Nineteen Primerica employees mentored at-risk students in the Berkmar Cluster Schools in Gwinnett County.
• Dress for Success: Employees reached into their closets and donated 30 complete outfits to provide professional attire for disadvantaged women who plan to interview for employment.
• The United Way Campaign: Through cash donations and payroll pledges for 2011, Primerica raised more than $50,000, exceeding their goal by $4,000.
• Food Drives: More than 16,000 food items were contributed to the Lilburn Co-op in 2010.
• Salvation Army Forgotten Angels: Employees “adopted” 100 children, providing gifts of clothing and toys to each of them during the holiday season.
• Operation Hope: In partnership with the nonprofit, Operation Hope, Primerica employee volunteers teach Financial Literacy curriculum. To date, 875 Gwinnett County Public School students have participated in the program.

Looking Ahead

Primerica employees have already started making a difference in their community in 2011. They look forward to another year of helping others have a better future.

Primerica was recently selected the winner of the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful 2011 Great American Cleanup Award in the category of Neighborhood Cleanup. The Great American Cleanup is one of the nation’s largest annual community improvement programs.

Primerica volunteers made improvements to five acres of the Outdoor Adventure Course at the J.M Tull Gwinnett Family YMCA. A $500 prize was awarded to Primerica for accomplishing the biggest transformation and impact on the community. The money will be donated to the J. M. Tull Gwinnett Family YMCA, for their snack and nutrition program.

The following Home Office employees participated in the clean up efforts: Top, L-R: John Nix, Michael Watkins, Wes Armstrong, Ray Nelmes
Bottom, L-R: Nancy Nix, Bonnie Boettcher, Moira Bailey, Lisa Blondell, Jenny Huang. Congratulations to all the volunteers for their enthusiasm and hard work!

Duane Morrow, Primerica’s Executive Vice President of Field Marketing, visits many of these patients, reminding them that, despite their circumstances, life can still be a full, beautiful experience. A trustee of the board of directors of the Shepherd Center Foundation, Duane hands out copies of his book “Y Not You” and visits with anyone willing to hear his message of hope and gratitude. Duane was once a patient at the Shepherd Center himself.

(To learn more about Duane’s amazing story of survival and recovery, read “The Adventure Continues.”)

Doing What Matters
Now, Duane helps the center because, “life with purpose and significance is a blessed life.” The center gave so much to him, he says, and mentoring people who have the same challenges he once had gives new meaning to his life. “When someone can work to be independent again, witnessing that transformation changes lives and shows people that there is no such thing as impossible,” he says.

He believes so strongly in what the center has to offer that he has become a member of their coveted Bridge Builders Society, meaning he has made provisions for them in his estate plans.

Duane explains, “The people at the Shepherd Center make it different from anywhere else. Their attitude, expertise and willingness to help make all the difference. Plus, the center pushes the limits on technology and research and implement it into aggressive therapy.” That’s why he wants to leave a legacy of service to the organization long after he’s gone. But for now, he’s content knocking on doors and spending a little time helping new patients get accustomed to their “new normal.”

“Every time a friend or therapist asks me to visit with a new patient, I go. I truly believe that I get more out of it than they do – every time. It’s the job I get to do, not one I have to do. There is where I really get paid in the currency that matters most: a life of purpose and significance.”

Primerica recently partnered with Books Are Fun to bring a book fair to the home office. More than $3,000 in books, music, games and other toys were sold to benefit Primerica’s 2011 Relay for Life campaign.

This year’s AALC National Conference, the organization’s eleventh, was a record-breaker for the group. Not only did more than 5,000 Primerica representatives attend the business-building conference, but the group added to the $25,000 they donated to Haiti recovery efforts in 2010 by donating a whopping $20,000 more to World Water Relief in 2011.

Through their Eyes on Haiti campaign, the group solicited donations in exchange for Malibu glasses that representatives wore throughout the conference. AALC member and Primerica Senior National Sales Director Mike Evans explained their efforts, saying, “It’s time we took this event and created a movement to change the world for the better.”

There are already more than 8,000 tickets pre-sold for the 2012 AALC National Conference, forcing the group to relocate to an even larger location. Their charitable efforts will continue, organization leaders predict, and they hope that next year’s project will help even more people in need to know that they are not forgotten.

The AALC was created in 2000 to empower African Americans in Primerica with leadership and resources to establish a legacy of financial independence through entrepreneurship. Approximately 68 Primerica representatives make up the Council, which requires representatives to be in good standing with the company and have an annual income of at least $200,000 to join.

On December 31, 1984, Karen Roberts’ 9-year-old son Patrick was complaining that he didn’t feel well. Weak and achy, he didn’t want to play with his brother. Karen knew something was wrong. She immediately took him to a doctor, who sent them on to the children’s hospital. Soon after, the unimaginable was realized – Patrick was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).

Patrick spent the next three years on chemotherapy and having bone marrow tests to ensure the cancer had not spread.  He attended school as his illness would allow and made friends among those who weren’t afraid that cancer was contagious and didn’t pick on him for being bald. He made it through, eventually becoming an athlete and living a normal life. He’s still in remission 19 years later. The information Patrick’s oncologist provided Karen gave her hope. The treatments gave Patrick a future.

Since then, Karen has lost other family members and a dear friend to cancer. “I can’t let their fight be for nothing,” she says. Their stories and Patrick’s are Karen’s reason to Relay.

“As a parent who had little to no information about this disease, I spent three years feeling like I was in the dark. I didn’t even know what questions to ask. Now, thanks to the American Cancer Society, all of the information anyone could possibly want is at their fingertips,” Karen says.

Karen, like many Primericans touched by cancer, looks forward to the day when a cure for cancer is found. Until then, we Relay to Accelerate a Cure. We Relay for Life.