On an Island

We have partnered with several local Caribbean organizations to help facilitate getting aid to those impacted by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. One of the biggest challenges those in these regions are facing is the ability to get basic necessities like clean drinking water, diapers and soap.

We are gathering supplies from local businesses and friends to ensure that those impacted receive them, bypassing the traditional organizations due to the urgency of the needs in these areas. I personally have spent a lot of time in the USVI and Puerto Rico and am passionate about the people in those areas—they are extremely welcoming but a lot of the areas are extremely poor.

We are also working on putting together a humanitarian mission trip to St. Thomas and other islands in the region to make sure that we are able to assist them personally. With many of these islands experiencing catastrophic and historic devastation, it is our patriotic duty to help them as Americans. Our goal is to get a team of people together to go down and help rebuild the area as needed to ensure that these residents can resume their normal lives sooner rather than later.

Felipe Barganier, CEO, Gab International

Long-Term Commitment

There are several ways in which we are working to support our clients and customers affected by the recent hurricanes:

• We committed $10 for every sales order received on August 28, in recognition of Houston-area workers, and on September 13, to help those based in Florida. Those donations were made to support relief efforts by the American Red Cross in those areas.

• We've also reached out specifically to our Texas- and Florida-based clients and those clients with a concentration of employees in the Houston area. We are working to support their employees in a number of ways. For example, several of our clients have created relief funds, and we have contributed toward those. We recognize that the recovery process for many of our customers will take time and will continue to offer proactive outreach to help support these employees for several months.

Elizabeth Halkos, chief operating officer, Purchasing Power

Close to Home

Before the storm, residents in southwest Florida were putting up hurricane shutters, securing their homes and leaving town. None of my local clients from Naples were available as they were preparing their properties and taking their families out of harm's way. The only clients I was able to contact and conduct business with were seasonal residents who spend their summers in the Midwest.

After the storm, power was out for days in Naples. To make matters worse, Collier County was on a boil water alert. My focus was on reaching out to clients who needed immediate help. I also wanted an update on how they fared during and after the storm. Thank goodness, no one reported any injuries. Most of the stories from North Naples were about downed trees, collapsed pool cages, and the initial flooding in the streets.

I had a tough time contacting clients for days due to power outages. Collier County enforced a curfew for nearly two weeks due to power outages around town, and schools were closed for two weeks. When the power was back, clients were still prioritizing getting their lives back together above addressing their insurance needs. I was concerned about one client for whom I needed to complete paperwork for Medicare plans and I finally met with him just days before his transition to Medicare effective October 1st.

Many employers were back to business, understanding their services were needed in the community. Employees were anxious to get back to work and looking forward to receiving their paychecks. Overall, there was not a major disruption for employers or individuals as it related to their health insurance coverage. However, this is a much different story for my friends in the property & casualty insurance business.

NAHU & FAHU are fundraising for local members needing assistance, and HAFA is doing the same for their Texas & Florida members.

Wayne Sakamoto, president, Health Insurance Interactive Inc.

Coordinating Efforts

We donated a chunk right away and gave to Red Cross because it was the most credible place we knew of that would provide practical help. Then, we heard that Texas AHU had created a Disaster Relief Fund specifically to coordinate efforts to help broker members/families. As of today, they've raised more than $25,000 and have been coordinating with local chapters regarding specific needs.

Reid Rasmussen, co-founder and CEO, Benefit Brainstorm

A Family Affair

My nephew is a paramedic on our local fire department and Ohio Task Force 1. He was deployed immediately to the Houston area and told me that of the 4,000 or so active full-time fire fighters in Houston, over 1,000 lost their own homes and yet were working 18-hour days saving other families.

My son works as a dispatcher for a trucking company called Jrayl Trucking. He spoke to his management team and they agreed to donate a semi-trailer,and we began filling the truck with first-responder supplies, including t-shirts, underwear, socks, flashlights, batteries, first aid supplies, diapers, hand tools, baby wipes, oil remover, cleaners and toiletries.

After the first load, donations kept pouring in from the community. A local company, the K Company, accepted the donations and helped pack each load. We have since filled two more trucks. Many of the outlying stations have not been getting the same attention and are very much in need. One of the big organizers was the K-9 group, a local nonprofit. They had a personal connection as one of their K-9 police dogs was donated last year by the Houston Fire Department.

Beazley really promoted employees contributing time and resources to causes like this. Beazley also made an $8,000 donation immediately for the relief. It is awesome when the companies and communities come together to help those in need!

Dan McNeill, regional sales manager, Beazley

Denim Donations

ONI Risk Partners is about to wrap up a month-long campaign to raise money for victims of the catastrophic hurricanes. Associates pay $5 per week for five weeks and they can wear jeans every day. The money raised will be matched by the agency. Our team is closing in on our goal with one week left!

Marti Thornbury, corporate communications & marketing director, ONI Risk Partners

Greater Good

Each fall, more than 1,000 NAIFA members look forward to attending the annual Performance and Purpose Conference to hear inspirational remarks, attend professional development sessions and network with peers, longtime friends and colleagues. A few days before Hurricane Irma was to strike south Florida, the NAIFA Executive Committee made the right decision to cancel the conference, which was scheduled for September 8-10.

New Orleans is my hometown, so I had a pretty good idea what was in store for those living in Irma's path. It turned out that the 1,000 or so hotel rooms that NAIFA had blocked for the conference were made available to residents of a senior citizen home who evacuated from Tampa.

Today, many of our NAIFA friends and colleagues across the region are dealing with the aftermath of flooded homes and businesses, as well as property losses. The news reports and horrible images of the destruction left many of us wondering what we could do to help. The answer was obvious: We reactivated the NAIFA Hurricane Relief Fund, which originally was established in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina to assist insurance professionals affected by Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The fund provides an opportunity for agents and advisors to help each other in a time of great need. NAIFA gave $10,000 as an initial contribution to the fund.

Keith Gillies, CFP, CLU, ChFC, president, NAIFA

Every Little Bit…

Health Agents for America is putting together hurricane purses. We are asking members/public to fill a purse and send it to the office to be distributed to Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico. They can be filled with things for a woman, man, child, dog, cat, etc., including socks, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. If it's easier, they can send money and/or gift cards.

Ronnell Nolan, president and CEO, Health Agents for America

Diapers in Demand

As Hurricane Harvey approached the Gulf Coast, Raffa Financial Services and our sister Raffa companies reached out to our clients to understand how we could best support those displaced by the approaching storm.

We learned that aid organizations and Homeland Security Agencies do not regularly stock diapers, infant or adult, for those in need. The companies scheduled two Denim Days, allowing staff to wear jeans in exchange for a donation to support the victims of the hurricane, raising more than $3,000 to support the Texas Diaper Bank to help fill this critical need.

Additionally, staff volunteered their time to help Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit that works to ensure people have their medications and access to health care during a disaster. The Raffa team, as well as family and friends, helped staff Healthcare Ready's Emergency Operations Center in Washington, DC in the days after both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.

Sharon Tiger, VP of business development, Raffa Financial Services

Extra Credit

I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but I grew up in Dickinson, just south of Houston. You may have seen all of the boat rescues from Dickinson during Hurricane Harvey—most of the town was underwater. Like so many, I wanted to do something but felt helpless. So, when I received an email asking for donations to the TAHU Honorees Disaster Relief Fund, I saw an opportunity to help. The TAHU Honorees is a 501(c)3 tax exempt corporation set up by the Texas Association of Health Underwriters, and the email noted that any donations would be used to help agents and brokers affected by Hurricane Harvey in the area. I quickly emailed two friends of mine, Mark Bellman with UnitedHealthcare and Mike Smith with The Brokerage, who immediately said yes to my idea of doing a series of CE webinars to raise money for the Harvey relief efforts. We hosted two events, one on September 7 and one on September 22, and between the two, we raised more than $5,000 for the TAHU Honorees. That amount included very generous donations by UnitedHealthcare and freshbenies.

I want to publicly thank Mark and Mike for their participation and to thank our sponsors and attendees, many of whom contributed much more than our “suggested donation.” I know this was just a drop in the bucket and that a lot of people, including many insurance professionals, will spend months trying to return to normal, so hopefully everyone will continue to support the victims of this hurricane and the other recent natural disasters.

Eric Johnson, broker sales executive for freshbenies and founder of ComedyCE.com