More than 500 people attended the second annual Insurance Business Canada Awards, a black-tie gala at The Liberty Grand in Toronto, and when the dust settled London’s Preferred Insurance was named winner of the CNA Canada Award for Outstanding Philanthropy and Community Service.
The award, open to any company within the insurance space, celebrates the outstanding contribution of time, leadership and financial support of a company who set new benchmarks of excellence in the acts of giving and volunteering.
“This is a tremendous honour,” said Peter Carr, partner and VP of Sales at Preferred Insurance Group. “We’ve been very active in the communities we serve for many years. We don’t do it for rewards or business gain, we do it because we care about the people in the communities we serve.”
In fact, Preferred Insurance was active long before the corporate world identified community and philanthropy work as a strategic objective. Truly a community champion, in the past year alone Preferred Insurance has supported 35 community and charitable causes, raising $119,300 over that span. Considering they are a team of 27 people, that works out to an impressive $4,418 raised per employee.
The largest charitable event that the company supports (and hosts) is the annual ‘Turkey Bowl Event,’ which raises money for Childcan, a London-based organization that provides real help financially and emotionally for families battling with a childhood cancer diagnosis. Since the event turned into a fundraiser six years ago, the amount raised has surpassed $250,000.
Another favourite cause that Preferred Insurance supports is the Rock Back To School campaign, in conjunction with local partners. The purpose of the program is to raise awareness and collect back-to-school supplies for less fortunate families, and Team Preferred’s five-year total for the campaign so far is 462 loaded backpacks.
And there are numerous other causes that the company is proud to support, which helped them earn the Insurance Business Canada Award for Outstanding Philanthropy and Community Service. The London-based company beat out six other nominees for the honour.
“There were a lot of talented individuals and very well-respected businesses represented at the event, so to be included within this group is an accolade in itself,” said Carr. “But it sure is wonderful to be recognized and rewarded for a job well done. We are truly grateful for the award.”
Contributions by Preferred Insurance
