QUINCY, MA--(Marketwire - April 4, 2011) - The Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation ("Arbella") completed the third year of its "Let's Drive Out Hunger" program, raising $71,233 for hunger relief programs in Massachusetts. The initiative is one of several that the Foundation supports to alleviate hunger in Massachusetts.
Let's Drive Out Hunger centers on a matching gift program in which Arbella matches donations from any of its nearly 500 independent agents on a two-to-one basis, up to $500 per agency. This year, donations increased by more than 11 percent over 2010. The number of participating agents also increased by nearly 12 percent, from 85 to 95 different agencies.
Ninety-three different food pantries in Massachusetts received donations this year, including My Brother's Table in Lynn, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank in Lowell, Bread & Roses in Andover, the Weymouth Food Pantry, Friends of the Homeless in Springfield and The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Over the past three years, Arbella and its partner agents have contributed more than $211,000 to help many of the 400 emergency food programs, soup kitchens, food pantries and food banks across 130 Massachusetts communities.
"We're so proud that nearly 100 of our generous agents joined in this important cause to ease hunger in Massachusetts," said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman and president of the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation. "Our agents throughout the Commonwealth are incredibly active in their communities. By bundling our contribution with theirs, we were able to triple the donations they made to needy organizations in their area."
Indeed, the current need for food is staggering. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service reported that 10 percent of households in Massachusetts lack consistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food.
A Greater Boston Food Bank study released in February 2010 supports this data, revealing how the economic downturn of the past few years has increased the need for food assistance. The Food Bank served 394,300 people in the greater Boston area last year, a 23 percent increase since 2006. The three Feeding America food banks in the Commonwealth are now serving as many as 801,200 people.
Similarly, the Project Bread Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts 2010 notes that 660,000 people in the Commonwealth struggle to provide food for their families amidst unemployment, foreclosures and lost savings, up nearly 20 percent from last year.
Given the heightened demand to help Bay State families put food on the table, Let's Drive Out Hunger is one of several initiatives Arbella is leading to fight hunger, including support of Father Bill's and MainSpring, sponsorship of Interfaith Social Services (ISS) and participation in Project Bread's annual Walk for Hunger.
About the Arbella Insurance Group and the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation
Established in 1988, the Arbella Insurance Group (www.arbella.com) is a company with more than $600M in revenue with approximately $1B in assets, headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. Arbella is a customer-focused regional property and casualty insurance company, providing personal and business insurance in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and business insurance in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Arbella Insurance Group founded the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation in 2004. The mission of the Foundation is to engage in activities and to support not-for-profit organizations that have a significant positive impact on the people and communities served by Arbella.
Contact Information:
For more information:
Amy McHugh Erickson
Greenough Communications
617-275-6512 or 617-981-2236 (mobile)
aerickson@greenoughcom.com
Andrea LePain
Greenough Communications
617-275-6516 or 617-894-1153 (mobile)
alepain@greenoughcom.com