NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — As State Farm approaches 100 years of business, employees were put to the test: the department that records the most “Acts of Good” gets to deliver a $10,000 grant to a nonprofit of their choice.
Sunday in Normal, the Risk Management Department presented that check to The Baby Fold.
“State Farm invests in the communities in which we live and work, and so we just wanted to pick a local charity that was doing good for families and children,” said Andrea Doss, Vice President of Risk Management for State Farm. “We’re just grateful for the work at The Baby Fold, and wanted to give them this gift.”
The Baby Fold was established in 1902 and has been serving Normal ever since. They help families in many ways, from adoption and foster care services to schooling and autism care.
The Vice President of Development and Public Relations at The Baby Fold, Aimee Beam, said she was surprised to open her email and discover they would be getting this grant.
“Our families have experienced a lot of food and housing insecurities over the course of the last few months,” Beam said, “and we’re really going to be able to stabilize some families and bless them this winter so that they can get through the season well.”
She said the money will go far to help families in the local community.
“A thousand dollars can be the difference between homelessness and having first and last month’s rent for an apartment. A hundred dollars can be groceries for an entire week. So if you think of $10,000 in the hands of people who will steward it well like we will, with State Farm’s partnership, then it will go very far.”
Aimee Beam, the baby fold
State Farm will turn 100 in June, and staff members are leading up to the anniversary with the “100 for Good” challenge. According to a press release, the company estimated about $1.5 million will be granted to organizations across the nation.
