NYCM Stories: Culture Team’s Annual Back to School Drive

Making a Difference for Local
Students & Teachers with the NYCM Culture Team

The beginning of a new school year is an exciting
time for students looking forward to new classes, teachers looking forward to
sharing their lesson plans, and parents looking forward to some peace and quiet.

Back to school also means the need for school
supplies, both for students and for teachers. Items like writing utensils,
notebooks, binders, and folders – as well as other necessary supplies like
tissues and hand sanitizer – are all needed to make our classrooms places where
our students can learn and grow.For some educators, the
burden of purchasing these supplies falls squarely on their shoulders. As some
families do not have the means to purchase school supplies, many teachers
bridge the gap by using their own money to make sure supplies are available for
everyone in their classroom.

Ten years ago, this reality struck a chord in the NYCM Insurance
Underwriting Team, which organized the first of many Back to School supply drives in an effort to
make a lasting impact in our local communities. Today, the Back to School Drive
is coordinated by the NYCM Culture Team and benefits school districts around
each of the NYCM offices in New York State. Continue reading to learn more.

How it All Began

What was first a small initiative organized by our Underwriting Department is
now a company-wide initiative spearheaded by our Culture Team: a
cross-departmental committee responsible for promoting our internal culture through employee engagement
events and opportunities.

NYCM Operations Supervisor, Culture Team Leadership member, and Back to School
Drive founder Jodi Hawes said, “I have two people in my family who are
teachers, and I didn’t realize how much teachers spent of their own money [for
school supplies]. Teachers are so underpaid, and they groom our leaders for
tomorrow. So that’s why I started it.”

In 2017, the Back to
School Drive became a company-wide initiative with collection bins stationed
across New York State at each of NYCM Insurance’s offices. Between the
months of June and August, NYCM offices at Edmeston, Sherburne, Canajoharie,
and Orchard Park each became hubs for donations to benefit local school
districts.

Corporate TEE Time: A Month of Giving

In the 2023 drive, school supplies were collected to be donated to school
districts in Edmeston, Unadilla Valley, Brookfield,
Norwich,
Hamilton,
Morris,
Mount Markham,
Sherburne,
Canajoharie,
and Buffalo
Public School 37. These ten schools were selected due to their
proximity to NYCM branch offices and the communities our employees call home.

For the month of June, employees were encouraged to donate to the Back to
School Drive as part of a special Corporate TEE Time opportunity. Employees
participating in the company’s 365 Passport to Wellness Program were offered
four extra “stamps” toward their end of year incentives if they made a donation
in the month of June.

By organizing the Back to School Drive, the Culture Team hopes to make a real and lasting impact in the classroom by helping ensure students and teachers have access to the tools they need in order to not only get by, but thrive.