Allstate Employees
Allstate is not just a network of 70,000 professionals providing insurance products and services around the globe. The company closely unites its employees, agency owners, and their friends and families around the shared vision of bringing out the good in people's lives. Never is this more apparent than during the company's Week of Service.
The 2nd annual Allstate Week of Service took place June 10-15, 2013, when 3,700 employees, agency owners, family and friends poured out of offices across the country - and the world - to volunteer in their local communities.
Projects took place in more than 36 states, and for the first time Week of Service went international, with projects in Northern Ireland, Canada and India. Nearly 100 employees (not to mention friends and family) at Allstate Solutions Private Ltd. in Bangalore, India, participated in two service projects during the week, planting fruit-bearing trees at nearby Thayimane orphanage and holding an office-wide blood donation drive.
Nearly 100 employees (not to mention friends and family) at Allstate Solutions Private Ltd. in Bangalore, India, participated in two service projects during Allstate's Week of Service.
Laura Freveletti, Senior Manager of Community Engagement, spoke from a Chicago beach clean-up about the volunteer events as a "Great opportunity for employees to get to know each other, to network, to bond as teams, and to build great pride in Allstate."
In fact, at Allstate employees are the ones who find the volunteer projects in the community and load them into the Allstate VolunteerMatch site using the Opportunity Builder tool. "Employees enjoy having the freedom to pick and choose what they're passionate about," said Paula Stang, who is in Corporate Relations at Allstate.
This year that excitement and passion paid off – Allstate tracked approximately 12,500 volunteer hours during the Week of Service, which translates to $276,750 in social value according to Independent Sector's estimate of the value of volunteer time. That's about $40,000 per day!
Allstate exceeded this year's Week of Service goals for the number of participating volunteers, projects and total service hours donated. No doubt that some of this success can be attributed to Allstate employees and agency owners getting their friends and family members so involved in volunteer projects.
When Hilo, Hawaii-based Agency Owner Kris Speegle organized a project at Goodwill of Hawaii County, his nephew, Keona, jumped right in, helping his uncle and numerous other family members, agency staffers and community volunteers replace the nonprofit's 15-year-old carpet.
Keona from Hawaii helped his Uncle Kris (Allstate agency owner) repair a carpet for Goodwill of Hawaii County during Allstate's Week of Service.
Afsheen Alam, Analyst at Allstate's Center of Excellence, commented, "I love the fact that Allstate is heavily engaged with the community and in volunteering. I can also involve my kids in the projects, so I can plant the seeds of kindness early on."
At the Allstate home office, employees and executives partnered with Feeding America for a large-scale food drive. "[As Allstaters,] we're among the luckiest people in the world," said Matt Winter, president, Allstate Auto, Home and Agencies, who is also a member of Feeding America's board of directors. "We're lucky to be employed and healthy. It's our core responsibility to leverage that and help people who aren't so fortunate."
In New Jersey, Allstaters worked with Habitat for Humanity to restore homes on the still struggling Jersey Shore that were destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Joyce Buford, who works in Corporate Relations for Allstate New Jersey, described the special volunteer experience: "We're able to work side by side with the homeowners, to get to know them, and they're getting to know us. Hopefully we'll be friends for life."