The Business Council of Westchester has chosen The New York Life Foundation, the major vehicle through which New York Life Insurance Co. channels contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations, as a 2009 Business Hall of Fame Winner. Â
“We are pleased to receive the award for corporate responsibility because it recognizes New York Life’s corporate culture and our core values,” said Ron Terry, senior vice president of the corporate services department, New York Life Insurance Company. “New York Life is proud to be a part of the Westchester community. Westchester is where our employees live and work and where New York Life actively engages the business community, illustrating that we are a company that cares about the county.”
In 2008, the Foundation made grants in the amount of $11.5 million.
“The mission of the New York Life Foundation is a natural outgrowth of one of the defining characteristics of our company,” said Christine Park, president, New York Life Foundation. “Since the very beginning, New York Life”™s first and foremost purpose has always been to help people achieve a better, more secure future for themselves and their families.”
Park said The New York Life Foundation has a long history of helping people. Â
“Predating the foundation”™s incorporation by 126 years, one of New York Life”™s first charitable contributions was in 1853, when the company helped victims of a yellow fever outbreak in New Orleans,” Park said. “Since then, the foundation has responded to the call in times of crisis, helping to build stronger, more vibrant communities and contributing resources to address emerging social issues.”
In 1951, the company set its first formal contributions budget and in 1979 the New York Life Foundation was established.
In 1998, the foundation implemented its Nurturing the Children initiative, which focuses on educational enhancement, mentoring, safe places to learn and grow and, in 2008, the foundation added childhood bereavement to its concerns.
“It is human nature to protect and provide for those we hold most precious and that’s especially true when it comes to children,” Park said. “However, helping young people fulfill their potential and teaching them to be responsible, successful adults has become an enormous challenge. In today’s world, kids face a host of negative influences not experienced by previous generations.
Unfortunately, the safety net is tenuous for many children and without intervention and guidance they face daunting obstacles.”
This was the motivation behind the New York Life Foundation’s decision in 1998 to channel the majority of its resources toward helping young people.
Since 1979, the New York Life Foundation has donated more than $110 million to national and local non-profit organizations. The Foundation began making grants in Westchester in 2004, the year New York Life”™s Sleepy Hollow campus opened. Since 2004, the Foundation has awarded 61 grants to Westchester charitable organizations totaling $1.17 million. Â
To promote and encourage individual giving, the Foundation matches gifts made by eligible New York Life agents, employees and retirees (and eligible subsidiaries) to qualified elementary, secondary and higher education institutions. Contributions of individual donors are matched up to $3,000. Â
In 2008, 19 educational institutions located in Westchester County received $27,155 through the matching gift program.
The company and the foundation also support Westchester area nonprofits through their annual work place giving campaign. This campaign encourages New York Life employees in the Westchester office to give to the United Way of Putnam and Westchester County through United Way of the Tri-State Region. In 2008, employees”™ contributions amounted to an estimated $104,027.
New York Life Insurance has always believed strongly in the value of community service, Park said. In 1998, the company formalized its commitment to community service and created the “Volunteers for Life” program, which currently operates in 25 New York Life offices across the country, “including a large program at our Westchester office.” In 2008, employees donated more than 2,300 volunteer hours through the Volunteers for Life Westchester program.
 “Since opening its Westchester campus in 2004, New York Life has made every effort to establish strong roots in the community,” Park said. “By supporting the local economy and nonprofits of Westchester, New York Life has demonstrated its commitment to be a valuable corporate citizen.”
