The team at the Good Samaritan Haven homeless shelter in Barre accepts a $7,500 donation from the National Life Group Foundation in June.
Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group Foundation’s board of directors approved a 33 percent increase in its annual budget, raising to $1 million the amount of charitable grants the foundation will be able to award starting in 2017. National Life formalized its philanthropic giving by establishing a charitable foundation in 2006. Since then, the Foundation has awarded $4.2 million in grants to nonprofits large and small, including $750,000 in 2016.
“The National Life Group Foundation is one of the important vehicles through which National Life Group lives its values of doing good, being good and making good,” said Beth Rusnock, Foundation President. “By providing grants to qualifying nonprofits, we keep our promises to support our local communities. They, in turn, keep their promises to those they serve.”
In the past year, the Foundation has made a $100,000 grant to COTS, which operates the largest homeless agency in Vermont; a $15,000 grant to the North Texas Food Bank; and a $25,000 grant to the Vermont Foodbank. In addition, grants have gone to more than 100 other agencies.
The National Life Group Foundation primarily makes grants in northern and central Vermont and in the Dallas, Texas, region, where the company has major operations. It also matches contributions up to $1,500 that employees make to nonprofits and it funds prize awards for the LifeChanger of the Year educator recognition program sponsored by National Life Group.
At National Life, our story is simple: For more than 167 years we’ve worked hard to deliver on our promises to millions of people with our vision of providing peace of mind in times of need. It’s our cause, stemming from a deep passion to live our values to do good, be good and make good, every day. Learn more at NationalLife.com. National Life Group Foundation helps build healthy and vital communities by supporting organizations and initiatives that make a positive difference.