Posts Tagged ‘charity’
The devastation of the recent earthquakes in Haiti has touched the lives of people across the world. While droves of friends and family were receiving horrific news, one of Primerica’s own, Regional Vice President Peggee & Jarrin King, was elated to receive word that her parents, missionaries in her home country of Haiti, were alive. They were alive, but lacking the basic human necessities to keep themselves – and the people who depend on them – well.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010, flattened homes and crumpled government buildings. Because of the tremendous loss of life and the overwhelming need for food, water, shelter and medicines, the International Faith Fellowship Ministries, Inc. (IFF) was in dire straights. The Liberuses, Peggee’s parents and the founders of IFF, sent word that they needed help, and the Primerica community responded right away.
Senior National Sales Director Andy Young coordinated an effort that collected more than 850 boxes of food, medicine, clothing, toiletries, generators and more. These donations, along with monetary gifts, filled two moving trucks that Young, Jarrin King and two other Regional Vice Presidents – Chris McHugh and Joe Redd – drove to Venice, FL, and loaded aboard Agapé Flights.
In Haiti, Peggee’s family met the plane and distributed the more than 30,000 pounds of donated goods.
The amazing contribution was reportedly the largest the airline had seen to date – good news for a community of six churches, three schools and a Bible college that was waiting anxiously for relief. Peggee said, “We are overwhelmed by the response. It’s wonderful that people want to help, despite what’s going on with the economy here.”
Through these contributions given by the Primerica representatives and Home Office family, hundreds of people will be able to meet some of their most basic needs and begin determining how to go on from here. To boot, Primerica made a corporate donation of $10,000 to the American Red Cross to help in the Haiti recovery efforts. Individual employees have also made personal financial donations through many of the aid sites that have been established in the wake of the earthquakes.
Peggee warned, “As people are giving so generously, I want them to be mindful of which organizations they give money to. They want to make sure that the need gets to the people, like the Primerica donation did.” Jarrin added, “I also hope people remember that after the cameras have left, the people will still need us. Primerica helped to supply the immediate needs of the people – needs like food, water and medicine; but they didn’t forget to send things like saws and other tools. These are the things that will help the people of Haiti as they start the next step: rebuilding.”
Primerica said “yes” and came through for people who desperately need help right now. They delivered on a promise to do what’s right for families … starting with their own.
If you’re interested in giving specifically to the International Faith Fellowship Ministries, Inc., they are a 501(c)3 organization. You can make financial gifts at any Wachovia Bank.
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Tags: charity, donate, giving, Haiti, relief
Posted in Community, Primerica |
A decade ago, Primerica representative John Roig was enjoying a night out with his wife Gloria near his hometown of Miami, FL, when he was stirred by old emotions he had not felt in many years. As he sat in the audience of the Coconut Grove Playhouse watching a performer singing an old Cuban melody, John began to yearn for his homeland.
John had not been back to Cuba since the summer of 1960, when Fidel Castro came to power. He was 15 years old then and had been spending his summers there since 1953, when his parents left Cuba to settle in America.
Since that summer so very long ago, John had lost touch with his many aunts, uncles and cousins with whom he had been very close as a child. Then, sitting in the playhouse in 1999, at 55, a successful business owner with Primerica earning more than $500,000 a year, the memories came flooding back. He turned to his wife with tears streaming down his face and said, “I’ve got to go back to Cuba.”
Since that time, John has not only returned to Cuba many times, but he has been able financially to help his many relatives who have been impoverished as a result of Castro’s regime.
Before the trip, he called his favorite aunt from childhood, the one with whom he had always stayed as a child, to ask if he could bring her a special gift. She requested a toothbrush. He promised to bring all his relatives toothbrushes and asked her again if she would like something special from America. “Well, it’s been 35 years since I last tasted peanut butter,” she answered.
“I was really in a dilemma,” he says, “because I wanted to bring her something special and all she wanted was peanut butter, which is nothing here. I went down to the local food store and cried like a baby when I looked at all the brands and styles of peanut butter so readily available on the shelf. It made me realize how much we take for granted in America.”
Upon his arrival in Cuba, John was surprised to see more than 50 relatives, most of whom he no longer recognized, waiting to greet him. He and Gloria brought the most goods they were allowed to bring into the country — 40 pounds of clothing and 20 pounds of medical supplies, as well as 60 toothbrushes and enough peanut butter to last his aunt a long time.
After all the introductions, hugs and tears, John was shocked to discover that none of his relatives owned a car. He had sent money to his aunt for a rental car to pick him up, but the rest of his relatives had walked five miles to the airport. And his aunt’s home, once the nicest on the block, was rundown. It had not been painted in years, and the plumbing no longer worked. The $110 water pump had broken three years before, and the family could not afford to replace it.
Not only was John able to help with the water pump, but on later trips, he bought refrigerators and stoves for all his relatives and financed improvements to their homes. He made a decision to return there every year. Later, he helped one of his cousins move to America, find a place to live and a job, paying more than $10,000 to make it happen.
“Because of our business with Primerica, we were able to do so much for my family,” he says. “Not only could we help financially but we could afford to give the time. We could get away so easily. On my first visit, I was able to stay for 10 days. There is no doubt in my mind that the money we’ve spent has come back to us. Our business has gotten even stronger since we decided to go to Cuba. Without Primerica, I couldn’t do this for my family. I’m no hero. I’m just doing what anybody would do for their family.”
Tags: charitable, charity, Coconut Grove Playhouse, family, financial aid, Gloria Roig, John Roig, Miami, Primerica
Posted in Community, Primerica |
With help from their team, a handful of Primerica offices are offering more than just financial solutions across kitchen tables in their community. They’re putting food on the table for hungry kids!
Ten Primerica offices in Ohio and Kentucky committed to a five-year, $500,000 commitment to the Kids Café program, a non-profit group started in 1996 that provides meals and tutoring to low-income children. Each week, hundreds of children get healthy meals and homework assistance at six locations around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
Before the donation, the Kids Café budget was around $70,000, enabling the program to feed 2,000 children annually. Thanks to the ultimate “Primerica Makeover,” Kids Café will be able to expand its operations and ultimately feed 10,000 hungry children by the end of the year! Additionally, each Primerica office in the area will be sponsoring a Kids Café location where reps can volunteer their time.
“The representatives in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky learned that thousands of kids in this area go to bed at night without a meal,” explains Primerica representatives Chris and Elizabeth Koob.
“Hunger is just unacceptable to us. It affects brain development and learning, not to mention health,” he says. “So we all made a collective effort to support Kids Café. Doubling their annual budget will make an immediate impact because they already have the facilities in place.”
This story reminds us that there’s no limit to the number of ways Primerica and its representatives can reach out to the people in our neighborhoods, whether they need a financial solution or just a decent meal.
Tags: charity, children, Chris Koob, healthy meals, hunger, Kentucky, kid, Kids Cafe, Koob, low-income, non-profit, Ohio, Primerica, volunteer
Posted in Community |
When you think of canned food drives, you probably think drives organized around Christmastime or the holidays. For Primerica Financial Services, the work to “can” hunger in the local community is a year-round effort. Now, this work is more important than ever as local food banks struggle to keep up with increased demand in this tough economy.
“The problem is not the lack of food but limited access to the food which is available,” says Primerica’s Program and Events Coordinator Renee Carter. “Food banks provide the access linking people to food. We want to be a positive link in this chain of action.”
Primerica works with the Lilburn Co-Op, and held two company-wide food drives in 2008. A summer food drive netted more than 7,000 items and employees donated another 10,000 items during a food drive in November. Another major food drive campaign will kick off in July. “I spoke with the director of the Lilburn Co-Op and she stated that the summer food drive is most important because so many families depend on the state’s free breakfast and lunch programs,” Renee says. “During the summer this is not available to families in need and children of school age sometimes miss meals. It is hard on some families to provide three square meals per day.”
Tags: charity, Community, food banks, food drive, hunger, lilburn co-op, Primerica
Posted in Community, Primerica |
