Gleaners Food Bank, Safeco's Change Agent winner for Fighting Hunger
October 22, 2018
Sterling Insurance Group in Sterling Heights, Michigan, has been named a Safeco Change Agent-earning a $2,000 donation from Safeco to Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit. Here, Sterling Insurance Group President Joe Haney talks about how Sterling and its sister branch, Lappan Agency in Alpena, Michigan, give back in the community through the "Sterling/Lappan Cares" program.
At Sterling Insurance Group, our exceptional service and concern for others doesn't end at the office-you could say that giving back is in our DNA. Our work in the community started soon after our agency opened more than 20 years ago, when we created a small group of volunteers to help facilitate and streamline our philanthropic efforts.
Today, what began as a simple vision has grown exponentially: Sterling/Lappan Cares is now a full-fledged volunteer program that has a significant impact in our area. It's managed by the Sterling/Lappan Cares Committee, which is comprised of 1-2 employees from each of our departments along with team members from Lappan Agency, our sister branch in Alpena. The committee meets bi-weekly to review ideas for company contributions, volunteer outings and causes to support.
Our company is always involved with a variety of organizations, but Gleaners Community Food Bank has long been a favorite-we give to them as often as we can because we believe strongly in its mission of providing households with access to nutritious food and related resources.
We also appreciate the organization's efficiency and effectiveness. In 2017 alone, Gleaners distributed more than 42 million pounds of food through its five distribution centers and partnerships with soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and other agencies. That's nearly 100,000 meals a day, on average! And 97 cents of every dollar donated goes to food and food programs.
Our team loves going above and beyond to support Gleaners. We organize frequent volunteer outings throughout Southeast Michigan, doing everything from sorting non-perishable food items to participating in food preparation-in fact, the activity in our picture for the Safeco Change Agent contest was a group of our employees making a vegetable sauce at a Gleaners facility.
At Sterling Insurance Group, our exceptional service and concern for others doesn't end at the office-you could say that giving back is in our DNA. Our work in the community started soon after our agency opened more than 20 years ago, when we created a small group of volunteers to help facilitate and streamline our philanthropic efforts.
Today, what began as a simple vision has grown exponentially: Sterling/Lappan Cares is now a full-fledged volunteer program that has a significant impact in our area. It's managed by the Sterling/Lappan Cares Committee, which is comprised of 1-2 employees from each of our departments along with team members from Lappan Agency, our sister branch in Alpena. The committee meets bi-weekly to review ideas for company contributions, volunteer outings and causes to support.
Our company is always involved with a variety of organizations, but Gleaners Community Food Bank has long been a favorite-we give to them as often as we can because we believe strongly in its mission of providing households with access to nutritious food and related resources.
We also appreciate the organization's efficiency and effectiveness. In 2017 alone, Gleaners distributed more than 42 million pounds of food through its five distribution centers and partnerships with soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and other agencies. That's nearly 100,000 meals a day, on average! And 97 cents of every dollar donated goes to food and food programs.
Our team loves going above and beyond to support Gleaners. We organize frequent volunteer outings throughout Southeast Michigan, doing everything from sorting non-perishable food items to participating in food preparation-in fact, the activity in our picture for the Safeco Change Agent contest was a group of our employees making a vegetable sauce at a Gleaners facility.