Emergency Preparedness + Program Helps Students Plan for Emergencies
Bellevue, Wash. — (April 13, 2007) — Symetra Financial and the National Brokerage Consortium (NBC) announced today that they are partnering with The Department of Homeland Security’s National Office of Citizen Corps to raise the level of the awareness for emergency preparedness in elementary schools.
Through this partnership, the National Office of Citizen Corps and its local Citizen Corps Councils across the country will assist teachers, students and their families to become better aware and prepared to handle emergency situations.
Launching the “Emergency Preparedness +” Program, the team of local Citizen Corps Council and representatives from Symetra and NBC will facilitate educational forums on emergency preparedness in the classroom, by engaging the third grade students and their families in discussions about preparing for emergency situations.
Symetra and NBC are also supporting the Citizen Corps mission by providing the schools with emergency preparedness kits. The 72-hour emergency kits include survival items such as water; food; hygiene and first aid supplies; a thermal blanket and light sticks.
“You never know when disaster will strike, however you can take steps now to help children understand what to do if something does occur,” said Stan Emert, director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Symetra Financial. “We are excited to work with Citizen Corps and NBC to help position students to be prepared in times of crisis.”
Program members today presented the kits to the parent teacher association of Wellington School in Seminole, Fla.
“As educators in a caring community we feel that it is our responsibility to prepare our families to be safe and prepared in the event of an emergency,” said Cynthia Moon, Wellington’s head of school. “I’m thankful to the Emergency Preparedness + program for supplying the tools and information needed to develop thorough emergency plans both in our school and in our students’ homes.”
About Symetra Financial
Symetra Financial is a family of companies with a half-century of experience providing retirement plans, employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through independent advisors and agents nationwide. The company has more than $20 billion in assets
1 and is owned by an investor group led by White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. For more information, visit Symetra Financial's website at
www.symetra.com.
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About National Brokerage Consortium
Founded in 1989, National Brokerage Consortium is a diverse network of professional insurance marketing agencies with nationwide representation. The organization is committed to matching the right insurance companies with the right producers, assuring freedom of choice in product solutions, and helping build a foundation of success for each member. For more information, visit
http://www.nbcagencies.com.
About Citizen Corps
Citizen Corps was created in 2002 by the President to make communities safer by informing and training citizens, and engaging them in volunteer activities to support professional responders. Its mission is to bring the public and non-public sectors together at the community level to get citizens trained and involved in every phase of the emergency preparedness and response cycle. As of January 2007, all 56 states and territories, and over 2,100 local and tribal governments, have formed Citizen Corps Councils to provide a community-based approach to citizen preparedness. Core Citizen Corps partner programs include Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Fire Corps, Medical Reserve Corps, Neighborhood Watch, and Volunteers in Police Service. Citizen Corps also partners with 25 major non-profit organizations and government agencies whose programs promote community preparedness and through which citizens can find training and volunteer opportunities to help make their families, homes, and communities safer from all types of hazards.
1 Source: Total GAAP assets per financial statements of December 31, 2006.
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Symetra® and the Symetra Financial logo are registered service marks of Symetra Life Insurance Company, 777 108th Avenue NE, Suite 1200, Bellevue, WA 98004.
