 |
|
|
|
Thomas Galione and his wife Chassidy – owners of F.G.K. Financial based in Brandon, Miss. – live 150 miles from the Gulf Coast. Before Katrina, the three-person operation had a client base of about 350. Yet, in a matter of hours, Hurricane Katrina still managed to wipe away 60 percent of their retirement-planning business.
"Houses were destroyed, jobs disappeared and people moved away," he explained. "Everybody thinks the hurricane is over, but it’s been six months since the storm and many of my clients are just now receiving insurance settlements."
Other clients – half of whom are age 50 or older – were underinsured or lacked the right kind of insurance. "You can’t imagine what it feels like to talk to clients who spent their whole life paying off a house and saving for retirement, but because they have no flood insurance they now have nothing," he said.
|
|
|
In fact, several were forced to withdraw money from their investments.
"Some companies we asked for money said, ‘Sure, but you have to pay the full surrender charge.’ These people lost their homes and cars, everything, they know they have money put away, but now I have to tell them they can’t get it without paying a 10 percent penalty," he said.
That wasn’t the case for his three clients with Symetra: "When I said I needed $10,000, Symetra never blinked an eye and they waived the surrender charges. You don’t know how powerful that is and how much easier it made my job. That’s a company I want my clients to be with."
Not that this kind of compassion was a surprise, he said.
In the Aftermath of Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina, Galione, who began working with Symetra four years ago, received a call from his internal wholesaler making sure he was okay. "The people we work with on a daily basis are always caring and wanting to know about us," he said. "That’s not easy to find in companies in our business."
When his wholesaler let him know that Symetra was looking "to do something" and wanted to team up with him on the project,
|
|
|
"The MS Gulf Coast Blossman YMCA is very appreciative of the playground project Symetra is giving to the ravaged Gulf Coast. The children are not able to understand the full complex impact of their houses and schools being gone, and their friends moving away. They have no comprehension as to, ‘Where are my toys? Where is my room, my bike?’ — the everyday things we take for granted. Symetra is giving these children a sense of normalcy with a new place to play and be children. In doing so, it’s fulfilling a vital mission that will impact the Gulf Coast community for years to come."
Karon Engel
Executive Director of Operations,
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Blossman YMCA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Galione was immediately onboard. The search for a project was a much tougher decision, he said: "I had to ask myself, ‘Where can we make an impact?’"
Through personal contacts, he learned that the Mississippi Gulf Coast Blossman YMCA in Ocean Springs, Miss., had suffered quite a bit of storm damage. Additionally, the number of children it served jumped from 275 pre-storm to more than 500 post-storm.
One-and-a-half acres of YMCA land was set aside for the project. A local contractor, Bill Bond, donated time and equipment to clear the land. American All Fun, based in Monroe, La., offered a discount on the playground equipment and installation assistance from the company’s vice president and co-owner Roy McCaskill. Additionally, a small army of volunteers descended on Ocean Springs this week (March 21 through 28) to build walking paths, install landscaping and park benches, and erect play equipment.
In addition to financial support and project planning, Symetra sent five of its own employees to work on the installation: Dick Ash, Mortgage Loans; Odie Capulong, Retirement Services; Delois Howell, Group Benefits (Miami); Erin Saffold, Retirement Services; and Katie Tyo, Marketing.
Capulong is no stranger to hurricanes, having experienced dozens of typhoons as a child in the Philippines. In fact, he admits secretly hoping for school-closing storms in much the same way American children wish for snow.
When he was 10, however, a category 5 storm overflowed the town’s river, flattened homes and businesses, and killed many of his neighbors and childhood friends. He vividly remembers the terrible sense of fear and loss. But he also remembers that the Red Cross was there to evacuate his family, and that volunteers from all over the world provided vital aid and heartfelt compassion.
"I never forgot all the people who helped us," he said. "Now it’s my turn to give back."
Symetra-Blossman YMCA Park
The Symetra-Blossman YMCA Park project was chosen because it would benefit many families, especially children, and it was something that could be started and finished in a fairly short time period.
"Here’s a project where we aren’t rebuilding just one person’s house," Galione said. "This is something for the people who are staying and the new people who will come. We can welcome them with open arms and say, ‘Look, this is what happens when companies and communities pull together. We can rebuild something good that lasts."
In addition to the feel-good nature of this project, Galione expects his business to grow by 25 percent as a direct result of his outreach efforts. "We’re 150 miles from the coast" he said. "From here to there are probably hundreds of insurance agents, but we’re the ones out there making an impact and people see that."
In fact, he’s already talking with a half-dozen "high-powered prospects" he’s met while working on the project.
That, of course, is one of the key benefits of a highly visible project like this one. "We’re building a brand, and we want agents to know we’re willing to go the extra mile in their own community," said Stan Emert, director of community relations for Symetra Financial. "It’s really hard to place a value on something like this, but we know it’s the right thing to do."
He also believes it will have a major impact: "With the massive infrastructure problems throughout the Gulf Coast region, there are lots of projects underway, but few of them are finished. This will be one of the first completed projects and it will have our name on it."
If you have a community project you’d like Symetra to get involved in, or if you’d like to learn more about our Community Relation’s program, please contact Stan Emert at community@symetra.com or (425) 256-6057. Also, visit our Community Relations page online at http://www.symetra.com/symetra/aboutus/relations.asp.
|
|
|
|
Symetra Financial Corp. provides retirement plans, employee benefits, life insurance and annuities through a national network of independent advisors and agents. Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., Symetra has nearly $20 billion in assets*.
*Source: Total GAAP assets per financial statements as of September 30, 2007.
|
|
|
|
