For many families, September signifies the start of school; class schedules, kids excitedly chattering about meeting up with friends, and parents scrambling to purchase pencils, notebooks and assorted supplies that can found on the back-to-school shopping list. Unfortunately, supplying a child with the tools they need for a year of academic success comes at a cost that many families struggle to afford.
Recognizing that this issue is prevalent in our hometowns, NYCM Insurance employees have organized a school supply drive every year for the last five years. What began as a small drive in our Underwriting department, has now grown into a company-wide initiative organized by our Culture Team; a cross-departmental committee responsible for promoting our internal culture through employee engagement events and opportunities.
NYCM culture consists of a variety of ideas, but perhaps the most tangible quality is the dedication to community. Having grown from humble roots, we recognize the importance of giving back to the hometowns that have helped us grow. Although it’s written in our company creed, it’s a sentiment echoed by our entire employee-base.
This summer was the second year of the company-wide drive and saw the collection of over 1,500 school supplies. Employees were encouraged to donate any and all appropriate supplies and the results wielded a wide collection of backpacks, notebooks, folders, loose leaf paper, glue sticks, pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils, erasers and highlighters.
The school supplies were all hand-delivered by members of the Culture Team to schools found near our hometowns of Edmeston, Sherburne and Canajoharie and will be provided to students in need.
Edmeston: Brookfield, Edmeston, Morris, Mount Markham, Norwich and Unadilla Valley schools
Sherburne: Hamilton, Sherburne-Earlville and Waterville schools
Canajoharie: Canajoharie Central School
In our other hometown, Orchard Park, we decided to shake things up and donated all supplies to Western New York Heroes, an organization that supports students of veterans in Western NY.
Culture Team member and Paralegal Stephen Siciliano is heavily involved with the drive and describes the importance behind the initiative: “Not only are we helping the students by giving them the materials they need to succeed and boosting their self-esteem, but we are also helping the educators who purchase supplies with money out of their own pocket.”
He recalls what it’s like delivering the supplies saying, “It’s an amazing feeling when we can show up to schools unannounced with boxes piled high with supplies and there are no strings attached. We are just doing it because collectively as an organization we are always looking to give back in any way that we can.”
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