First Rehab Life (The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company of America) has been very busy this fall supporting local charitable organizations and events on Long Island.
Tuesday before Thanksgiving, First Rehab Life Employees held a food drive for Island Harvest. The Executive Management Team came together in a unique way to motivate their employees to give back this holiday season. To give back to their employees in turn, Richard White (CEO), Constantine Lappas (COO), and Bruce Wallach (CFO) scooped ice cream sundaes and served up slices of pie for First Rehab Life employees. The company was proud to donate over 300 food items and additional cash funds to the local food pantry in support of their mission to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island.
Donations to Island Harvest are just one of the many ways First Rehab Life has given back this year. In October, a team of First Rehab Life employees came together to “make strides toward a world with more birthdays” at the American Cancer Society’s Annual Breast Cancer Walk on Jones Beach. “The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk is such a significant event to many of First Rehab Life's employees,” explains Carmela D’Avanzo, Director of Human Resources. “Walking gives us an opportunity to celebrate the lives of friends and family who are valiantly fighting against this dreaded disease and also the occasion to honor and remember those we have lost.” This was First Rehab Life’s fifth year participating in the Jones Beach walk. The team raised $4,315 for donation.
Additionally, First Rehab Life donated two of their old vehicles to Donation Processors of America, which gives the proceeds from reselling the cars or their parts to Long Island Cares, a Long Island food pantry. David Epstein, Vice President of Sales, says, “It was important for us to be able to donate these cars, and it feels good to know that they will be supporting a great organization like Long Island Cares.”
Finally, First Rehab Life employees were invited to bring their children to work and participate in the company’s annual Kids’ Day. Since the company’s Kids’ Day fell on Veterans’ Day this year, First Rehab Life employees wanted to do something in honor of veterans. The children created cards and passed out postcards for all employees to write a message thanking our troops. “We were inspired by the youth to take a few minutes of the day to remember not only the veterans, but the men and women currently serving overseas who defend our great country,” states one First Rehab Life employee. The cards were mailed directly to an active unit over in Afghanistan.
“I’m really proud of the company and everything its employees have come together to accomplish in the past few months,” says Richard White, First Rehab Life CEO. “It’s something we definitely plan on continuing into the new year.”
About Island Harvest:
Long Island’s largest hunger-relief organization, Island Harvest serves as the bridge between those who have surplus food and those who need it. Their volunteers and staff “rescue” or collect, good surplus food from over 800 supermarkets, caterers, farms, and other food-related businesses; and distribute it to a network of more than 570 soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, day care & senior centers residences, and other places where those in need can access it.
About Making Strides:
The American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is as unique and special as the stories that motivate their dedicated walkers, donors and volunteers. Each step they take is personal. And each donation is helping to save lives. And each volunteer helps create a world with less breast cancer and more birthdays. More than just a walk, the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event describes the progress we’re making together to save lives by helping people get well, stay well, find cures and fight back.
About Long Island Cares:
Long Island Cares is a not-for-profit organization, community based, regionally responsive, and working in partnership with other charitable agencies to fight hunger in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The Harry Chapin Food Bank is Long Island’s First Food Bank First Rehab Life Press Release and, together with Community Outreach Programs such as New Paths to Achievement and Job Training, makes Long Island Cares one of the New York Region’s most comprehensive hunger action organizations.