Industry Awareness Award

National Underwriter Life & Health is pleased to announce that the Insurance Industry Charitable foundation (IICF) is the recipient of the 2011 Industry Elite Award for Industry Awareness.

The IICF was founded in 1994 and it seeks to help communities by combining the efforts of the industry in order to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. Funded completely by the industry, the Foundation works as a credible intermediary for companies looking to expand their community outreach. This is accomplished by giving companies the access to community relations experts as well as administrative support and help with prioritizing where their donations could be used best. The Foundation also holds an annual volunteer week where industry professionals donate their time by doing neighborhood service and community non-profit work. The IICF has established $17 million in community grants and contributed over 140,000 hours of volunteer service.

IICF CEO Bill Ross mentioned that there was not one specific catalyst that caused the foundation’s formation. “It was originally established by six individuals that got together and celebrated their year by collecting some funds and gave them to the city of Hope, California.” That became an annual tradition that has since grown into a foundation representing a whole industry.