IICF Northeast Division Raises Over $1.2M at 11th Annual New York Benefit Gala
The Northeast Division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a nonprofit organization working with the insurance industry to help communities, raised more than $1.2 million at its annual charitable gala on Dec. 13 in New York City.
The money will be used to fund the IICF Northeast Division’s Community Grants Program, which provides grants to local and regional nonprofit organizations and charities throughout the Northeastern U.S.
Nearly 800 insurance professionals attended the gala, held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. The event featured celebrity speakers Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning and editor-at-large of O, The Oprah Magazine, and five-time World Series champion, Mariano Rivera. They accepted honorary grants on behalf of The Ana Grace Project and The Mariano Rivera Foundation.
This year, there were 21 grant recipients in the IICF Northeast Division as a result of its fundraising efforts. The event last month also introduced a text-to-give option, in which attendees could send a text in order to donate throughout the course of the event. This effort resulted in nearly $50,000 in additional pledged funding for the 2018 IICF grants program.
During the event, IICF also honored Ryan Specialty Group for its philanthropic leadership with the 2017 IICF “Double I” Award for influence in the industry and impact in the community.
Patrick G. Ryan, founder, chairman and CEO of Ryan Specialty Group, accepted the award on the company’s behalf after being introduced by Timothy W. Turner, chairman and CEO of Ryan Turner Specialty and 2017 IICF Northeast Benefit Dinner Chair.
Over the past 11 years, the annual IICF Northeast Benefit Dinner has raised nearly $8 million, funding more than 100 grants to nonprofit organizations in local communities, according to Hank Watkins, chair of IICF Northeast Division’s Board of Directors and president of North America at Lloyd’s.
The grants are made to organizations focused on early education, children at-risk, disaster preparedness and the environment and are established each year by the collaborative efforts of hundreds of professionals in the brokerage, underwriting and services sector of the insurance industry, Watkins stated in a press release issued by IICF.
Established in 1994, IICF has contributed $28.7 million in community grants, along with 270,000 volunteer hours by more than 100,000 volunteers, to hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations, reinvesting in local communities where funds are raised.