The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)’s Northeast Division recently partnered with Life Line Chaplaincy, an organization dedicated to providing compassionate support for first responders and their families, on a project created to help bring together volunteers from the Norwalk community and its local police department.
One of Life Line Chaplaincy’s mission objectives is to strengthen relations between law enforcement and local community members. As such, Life Line – in partnership with Rebuilding Together – made an application to IICF for a grant to fund repairs and improvements to community home owners in need of assistance with volunteers from the local police force and area neighbors handling the work. Through a $30,000 grant provided by the Northeast Division of IICF, citizens and police volunteers were provided with the materials and supplies to address two projects. The first was making much needed safety repairs and upgrades to the home of Mrs. Rosa Lee Elliott, an 83-year-old resident of Norwalk, during the last weekend in June.
A second project is planned for the fall in the New York Tri-State Region.
“We had an amazing event over the weekend thanks to IICF,” noted Reverend John Revell, chaplain for the Stamford and Westport police departments, the Connecticut State Police and lead chaplain of Life Line Chaplaincy Inc. “About 20 volunteers from the community and the police came together to make significant improvements to Mrs. Elliott’s home. The police liaison said that, as a result of this event, he plans to organize more like it in the future.”
Volunteers spent hours working on repairs to the Elliott home, including improvements for handicap accessibility, replacing rotted wood and general painting and landscaping improvements.
“IICF’s Community Grants Program helps to meet the critical need of our communities, in this case by providing funds to Life Line Chaplaincy and its efforts to bridge the gap between local law enforcement and the community,” said Elizabeth Myatt, Executive Director of IICF’s Northeast Division. “Life Line Chaplaincy’s work had a tremendous impact on Mrs. Elliott and the community at large. Positive, community-based projects like this are at the heart of our call for year-round volunteerism.”
In 2019, IICF announced it would expand its dedication to volunteering by providing year-round opportunities for its insurance industry supporters to give back to their communities on a more consistent and greater basis. This is in addition to its annual IICF Week of Giving, occurring Oct. 12-19, 2019. To learn more about IICF’s efforts to give back all year long and how you can make an impact in your own community, please visit https://ec.samaritan.com/recruiter/index.php?class=VolunteerNavigation&recruiterID=1513&act=CONTROL:OPP_SEARCH_LINK
About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)
Celebrating twenty-five years of helping communities and enriching lives, together.
Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) is a unique nonprofit that unites the collective strengths of the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives through grants, volunteer service and leadership. Established in 1994, IICF is celebrating twenty-five years as the philanthropic foundation of the insurance industry, contributing over $31 million in community grants, along with 270,000 volunteer hours by more than 100,000 industry professionals. IICF reinvests locally where funds are raised, serving hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations, for maximum community impact. IICF is a registered nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Learn more at www.iicf.org or follow us on Twitter @doubleicf.