When it came time to purchase small business insurance, the Gileses looked no further than local State Farm agent Darryl Brooks.

“[With] Darryl being a small business owner as we are, it really helps him to understand us, how we operate, and understand our needs, and just relate – this is what we go through,” said Ozzie Giles.

The Gileses and Brooks are featured during this year’s national NBCUniversal Open Doors campaign, which is an initiative sponsored by State Farm that supports diverse, small businesses by providing access to marketing and advertising resources to help spur and sustain growth. This is the third year that State Farm and NBCUniversal have worked together on this campaign.

According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, minority-owned businesses account for more than half of the two million new businesses started in the U.S. in the last 10 years. These successful ventures have helped to create 4.7 million jobs and there are now more than four million minority-owned companies in the U.S.

The NBCUniversal Open Doors website offers free downloadable resources, tips, strategies, advertising tutorials and best-in-class business practices, providing the necessary tools to allow small business owners to thrive.

Brooks and the Gileses are one of four pairings of State Farm agents and their small business insurance customers who will be spotlighted in this year’s NBCUniversal Open Doors campaign.

Other spotlights include:

• Stephen Evans Jr., owner of Stevie E’s Place barbershop, and his State Farm agent Coriano Johnson in the Akron, OH area (August)
• Desiree Chamorro, owner of K9 Cafe Boutique & Spa, and her State Farm agent Crystal Fuller in San Antonio, TX (September)
• Jenna Horning, owner of Bean’s Ice Cream, and her State Farm agent Susan Eacho in Poquoson, VA (October)

For more information on State Farm small business insurance, please visit our website or contact your local agent.

Their youngest daughter, State Farm Agent, Beth Moloughney, who gave birth to the first grandchild only 6 weeks earlier, recalls their excitement as the closing date drew near. She also recalls a very important decision her parents made.

 “My parents were faithful and longtime State Farm policyholders. Both my sister and I have had life insurance since we were infants,” Beth said.

Martin and Dorothy approached their State Farm Agent, James Spera to place insurance on the home they were buying in three days. At that meeting, Mr. Spera presented them with additional life insurance quotes to cover the mortgage on their dream home. Martin, feeling they already had enough, said to Mr. Spera, “Every time we come in here you try to sell us more life insurance.” Mr. Spera replied it was his job to make sure that they were properly covered. After some back and forth, they purchased two policies.

The Sonnenbergs left with the binding receipts and went off to close on their dream home. They named it “The Shore House.”

This should be the end of this fairytale story, but like every fairytale, there is some tragedy. This tragedy was earth-shattering.

Three days after closing on their “dream home,” Martin died suddenly. Shattering the family’s world and Martin & Dorothy’s dream of growing old together in The Shore House. But because of the life insurance, the home was paid in full, and Dorothy never had to worry about that property.

At first, Beth was reluctant to spend time there. She felt it was a “death house.” “My Dad died for this,” she thought. But her grandmother sat her down and explained the best way to honor his memory was to do exactly what he had envisioned with the home.

Dorothy kept that home for the next 30 years where all the grandchildren spent their summers learning how to boat, fish, and enjoy all that is the Jersey Shore. It was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2011.

Life insurance changes lives in many ways. Not just the immediate, but sometimes setting us on the path we are meant to be on.

“This is why I am here today as a State Farm Agent. I was able to see firsthand the value of life insurance and how it has a generational impact and leaves a legacy of love beyond words. ” Beth said.

Visit https://www.statefarm.com/ and https://lifehappens.org/ for more information.

State Farm is proud to have been a part of a custom segment on NBC’s TODAY in honor of National Women’s Small Business month.

On the show, the compelling story of Joanne Canady-Brown, owner of The Gingered Peach in Trenton, NJ, was shared. While her business is thriving, Joanne also takes the time to give back and embrace her community and local non-profit organizations.

That morning, Joanne was surprised with a visit from TODAY’s Donna Farizan, as well as State Farm Agent Teanice Wells Ernest and representatives from two non-profits Joanne supports on a regular basis, “Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK)” and “I Am Trenton.”

As a part of the surprise, Teanice presented two $25,000 checks that were given as gifts to TASK and I Am Trenton in Joanne’s honor.

View the segment, here: Watch 1 community surprise a small-business owner (today.com)

We show kindness in many ways on a daily basis and every Act of Good makes a difference in someone’s life.

Remember to record your Acts of Good here: 100 for Good and don’t forget to support small businesses in your community.

Update: Whitney continued her 100 days campaign in the spring of 2021 and plans to do the same in 2022. Last November she worked with her local elementary school to write letters to veterans and lead a toy and clothing drive for children this past holiday season.

"There's no stopping," added Whitney. "Giving is foundational to my life, and it's the foundation of my agency."

Whitney Mork was 19 years old when a random act of kindness changed her life forever. Her father had recently passed away leaving her family in a precarious financial state. She had left the University of Alabama and just started work as a server at a local Birmingham restaurant. She needed to earn money so she could return to school and finish her last three semesters.

That's when Whitney's story took an almost unbelievable turn.

"One night a family came in and I was waiting on their table and they started asking me questions about my situation," said Whitney. "At the end of dinner, they handed me a sizeable check. It was enough money to help me graduate. Instead of paying it back, they asked that I pay it forward."

 
State Farm Agent 
Whitney Mork

Whitney took that generous expression of charity to heart. Now a State Farm agent in Irondale, Ala., she honors that gift with gratitude and responsibility and strives to live every day paying it forward.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she decided to embark on a "100 Days of Kindness" campaign. She and her agency team provided meals for first responders and gift cards for nurses, handed out masks and hand sanitizers, went grocery shopping for customers, and helped spruce up the downtown Birmingham area.

"In all of this uncertainty, I want to be the change I want to see in the world and bring a little bit of hope to people," Whitney said. "Kindness is a chain reaction and it leads to others paying it forward."

"Whitney provided lunch for our department one day and it makes a huge impact just to know people are supporting us during these challenging times," said Chief Chris Mullins of the Mountain Brook Fire Department in Birmingham. "For Whitney to think about us in that way was really touching."

News of her story has spread and people are inspired.

"Numerous State Farm agents across the country have called me, wanting to start their own 100 Days of Kindness campaigns," remarked Whitney. "My advice to them is that something as simple as buying someone a cup of coffee can be impactful."

Whitney plans to start her next 100 days campaign in the spring. It's something she plans to continue for years to come.

Habitat for Humanity’s Home is the Key campaign reminds us of the importance of home in uncertain times.

For 98 years, State Farm has been a good neighbor and corporate citizen through our philanthropic and volunteer efforts. As a result of our work with Habitat for Humanity for over 25 years, we also help build safer and stronger communities. During the past two decades, State Farm gifted more than $21.2 million to Habitat for Humanity. This doesn’t include the countless volunteer hours and matching gifts from employees and agents.

This year, State Farm went even further as a corporate sponsor of Habitat’s Home is the Key campaign. The April 2020 campaign generated local and national awareness about the critical need for affordable housing in this country.

“At Habitat for Humanity, we know that having a safe and decent place to call home can make all the difference in times of crisis,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “As many of us shelter in our homes during this pandemic, our hearts are with those who don’t have a decent or safe place to live.”

Kathy Schumacher, a State Farm^® employee in Charlottesville, Va., started the garage sale with then coworker Darlene Lyons. Darlene had a friend who was homebound and needed a lot of help, which she received through the local Meals on Wheels program. So, Darlene decided to raise money to benefit the organization.

They didn’t want to just fundraise, they wanted to provide an event.

The Fluvanna (County) Meals on Wheels Garage Sale was created as a way to not only fundraise, but to provide an opportunity for people to donate goods they no longer needed. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure, as they say.

“We collect donated items at our houses and then take them to where we are hosting the sale. We clean, restore, price, organize and sort everything,” Kathy said.

Kathy has used a week of her paid time off to organize and manage the garage sale every year, and every year she invites her State Farm colleagues to volunteer with her.

“Every year, the sale gets bigger and bigger so we can use all the hands we can get.”

Kathy said 24-28 State Farm colleagues volunteered in 2019 for the nine-hour day, helping to raise $17,750, plus a Good Neighbor Grant^® Team Program application provided another $500.

Sabrina Morris accepted Kathy’s invitation to volunteer for the first time.

“It was a really welcoming environment,” Sabrina said. “It was nice to be there with people you knew. You were volunteering, but it felt less like volunteering and more like doing something good with people you enjoy being around.”

“It is such a positive environment. Everyone is so happy and wants to reach the same goal,” Kathy added. “The team day did a lot because you were able to get to know somebody you see, but can’t talk to them, such as at the call center.”

And it all comes back to what the mission is – help seniors receive nourishment and interactions they may not get otherwise.

“It’s just something I believe in. No one should be alone and no one should go without food,” Kathy said.

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After being displaced by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and having a lousy holiday, 3-year-old Bridges and his mother, Christie, were due for a positive experience.

And this Christmas had all the signs of being a good one.

Christie had saved and bought Bridges new toys and clothes. She was excited to surprise him on Christmas morning. As part of the holiday spirit, she encouraged him to gather up toys he had outgrown to give to charity.

New and old, everything was locked in Christie’s car overnight to keep Bridges’ curiosity at bay.

Then the unimaginable happened.

Thieves broke into Christie’s car and took everything as part of a burglary spree in her neighborhood. Christie was distraught and heartbroken.

She had renter’s insurance and called State Farm Claims. The record of her call showed up in Agent Lad Drago’s office in Spanish Fort, Ala.

Agent Team Members Rebecca Grizzle and Cat Holladay saw the claim first that morning.

“It immediately pulled at our heart strings,” Cat says. “Because her deductible exceeded the value of the items stolen, we couldn’t help from an insurance standpoint, but we still wanted to do something.”

With Lad’s permission, Cat and Rebecca pooled their money and asked other agent team members if they wanted to donate. The pair went shopping over their lunch hour and that evening, wrapped the gifts at home that night and brought them back to the office the next morning.

The next day, Rebecca called and told her they had a few questions about the break-in and asked her to stop by the office.

“She came to the office that morning and brought Bridges with her,” Cat says. “We sat her down, and Lad told her all the gifts under the tree were for Bridges. She broke down crying right there in the chair. She kept saying over and over about how no one had ever done anything like that for her.”

“It made my holiday season that we could do this for her,” Rebecca says. “Her face was so full of gratitude.”

“I know I have a great team,” Lad says. “But it was a reminder of how much they care about customers and people in general.”

And this Christmas had all the signs of being a good one.

Christie had saved and bought Bridges new toys and clothes. She was excited to surprise him on Christmas morning. As part of the holiday spirit, she encouraged him to gather up toys he had outgrown to give to charity.

New and old, everything was locked in Christie’s car overnight to keep Bridges’ curiosity at bay.

Then the unimaginable happened.

Thieves broke into Christie’s car and took everything as part of a burglary spree in her neighborhood. Christie was distraught and heartbroken.

She had renter’s insurance and called State Farm Claims. The record of her call showed up in Agent Lad Drago’s office in Spanish Fort, Ala.

Agent Team Members Rebecca Grizzle and Cat Holladay saw the claim first that morning.

“It immediately pulled at our heart strings,” Cat says. “Because her deductible exceeded the value of the items stolen, we couldn’t help from an insurance standpoint, but we still wanted to do something.”

With Lad’s permission, Cat and Rebecca pooled their money and asked other agent team members if they wanted to donate. The pair went shopping over their lunch hour and that evening, wrapped the gifts at home that night and brought them back to the office the next morning.

The next day, Rebecca called Christie and invited her and Bridges to stop by the office.

“She came to the office that morning and brought Bridges with her,” Cat says. “We sat her down, and Lad told her all the gifts under the tree were for Bridges. She broke down crying right there in the chair. She kept saying over and over about how no one had ever done anything like that for her.”

“It made my holiday season that we could do this for her,” Rebecca says. “Her face was so full of gratitude.”

“I know I have a great team,” Lad says. “But it was a reminder of how much they care about customers and people in general.”

Rodgers (Green Bay Packers quarterback) remains the target of the one-sided rivalry between his on-screen sports agent Gabe Gabriel and real-life State Farm Agent Patrick Minnis. This season, Gabe introduces his new client Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback) in an attempt to one-up his rival agent.

“I’ve been involved in a few different campaigns over the years with State Farm, but this latest is one of my favorites," Rodgers said. "It’s been fun to see how these agents of mine try and out do each other. And, having Patrick (Mahomes) making a few cameos will be a nice surprise for the fans.”

Gabe's attempt to make Aaron jealous by bringing on last year’s MVP is futile. Throughout the various ads, Gabe tries to show his value. Instead, he sets up the State Farm agent who demonstrates how helpful and understanding State Farm can be.

“I’m pumped to be working with State Farm and Aaron," Mahomes said. "I’ve been a big fan of their ads for years, so it’s really exciting to be joining the team.”

The ads will run on broadcast, social media, radio, and elsewhere until the conference championship games which start Jan. 19, 2020.

DDB Chicago created the “Agent vs. Agent” campaign. It shows how State Farm is Here to help life go right®. It offers the care of an agent who knows you, matched with technology that makes doing business easier.

In the News:

• Forbes - Exclusive: Aaron Rodgers has new MVP 'Mahomie' in State Farm ads (09/05/19)

“It’s so important to give back,” Becky says. “When you go to these villages, you see how blessed you really are. The Neighborhood of Good^® is so important, but that neighborhood could be mine, or it could be in another country.”

She says volunteering in third-world countries, and especially countries devastated by a natural disaster, puts day-to-day worries into perspective.

“Living in a tent and not having running water is not comfortable. The unknown is scary for anyone. Once you do that and see these things – compared to these people’s lives, nothing is hard,” Becky says.

In third-world countries, the citizens have a much harder life. Every culture is different, and Becky made note of this in Nepal. She saw women working the fields on the side of mountains while the men watched. In Africa, she worked in the area where there is the highest AIDs cases per capita in the world.

“When you see these people who work so hard, and you can actually see that women have less rights and how undervalued they are, it breaks your heart,” Becky says. “In Africa, the kids are their parents because both parents have passed away from AIDs. But they’re the happiest kids you’ve ever seen. It’s interesting to see the dynamics compared to the U.S.”

Becky, a State Farm^® agent from Yukon, Okla., visited Nepal the first time in April 2016 after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated the country a year before. Nearly 9,000 people were killed, almost 22,000 injured and hundreds of thousands were displaced and homeless following the catastrophe.

Becky’s volunteer group helped rebuild a church in a village that had not received any relief work since the earthquake. They also cleared rubble and debris of a home owned by an elderly family. Her church group, which included two State Farm customers, revisited the same village a year later to complete the rebuilding of the church.

“It really shows you a lot about yourself,” Becky says. “When you see how happy people are when they have nothing, it shows what is a true need and a true want.”

Becky says the hardships she has seen in other countries have changed how she views her home life.

“I try to not buy as much and try to share the need with other people. I try to get people involved in the local community through food donations or clothing drives. Anyone can go on a trip; there’s always a group of people going somewhere to help someone,” she says. “Wherever you live, you can find some way to reach out to people.”

You don’t need a big pocketbook to give. You don’t need a ton of free time to volunteer. You just need a big heart and a willingness to help. And 10 year old Minnesotan Sanya Pirani has those in spades.

When Sanya was just seven years old she watched a YouTube video about the life of children after war. She saw kids her own age without clothes, shoes and other basic necessities. All things she couldn’t imagine living without; things she took for granted. From that point, she felt compelled to help others.

“Sanya wanted a popular doll for a long time, so I gave her a little more than $100 to buy one,” Dilshad, Sanya’s mother, reminisced. Sanya felt uncomfortable buying an expensive doll when millions of children didn’t have enough to eat.

Eight year-old Sanya used the doll money and bought 100 pieces of candy. She sold them for five dollars each, making $500. She donated all the money towards feeding a village of 700 people through Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). “She hoped that by the end of 2017 she could finish feeding the entire village of 700 people for one year” Dilshad continued.

Soon after, Sanya found out from the county commissioner the local Crisis Nursery (an organization that helps parents who are dealing with emergencies such as a sudden illness, housing problems, divorce or separation, or financial strains, may need time to resolve the crisis) needed help.

She channeled her artistic abilities and made bookmarks. She sold them at her mom’s work, school and soccer practice. After two months, she made $500 and donated every last penny to charity.

The young humanitarian soon realized she couldn’t save the world on her own, she needed a team. Sanya‘s teacher and principal allowed her to speak to the entire third grade class. Under Sanya’s leadership, the class ended up raising nearly $2,300 for charity. Sanya herself fundraised more than $24,000.

The following year, she partnered with her strongest supporter yet. Her mother’s State Farm insurance agent. Dilshad was meeting with Erik Westrum when he asked her, “Where do you need us?” It’s the former professional hockey player turned insurance agent’s unofficial motto.

“Erik mentioned his work to fight Parkinson’s disease and asked if I was involved in the community. It’s something he asks all of his customers because he wants to support causes we care about,” shared Dilshad.

“Many of my customers volunteer but I was touched and inspired by Sanya and her family,” Erik said with a big smile. “She is an amazing young girl and I knew I wanted to help her help others.” Erik continues to provide donations to Sanya to help her build upon her efforts.

Sanya, with help from Erik and hundreds like him, is still actively helping the local and global community. The preteen has a close relationship with the local Community Action Partnership (CAP) agency raising more than $5000 for the nonprofit. She also ran a successful food school supply drive with local libraries. Globally, she has raised nearly $27,000 for FMSC and more than $2000 for world church services and Aga Khan Foundation.

Her work has not gone unnoticed. Sanya has won awards from the local CAP, was the only child recognized on National Philanthropic Day, and received a Certificate of Recognition from Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.

Be like Sanya. Do something, anything – big or small that makes a positive difference in your community. Be grateful for what you have and help those who are less fortunate. Please feel free to visit Sanya’s social pages (see above) to support her so she can continue to help those who need it the most.

Having traveled them so frequently, Kyndra Mitchell knew public transportation routes and cracks in sidewalks in the Detroit metro area by heart.

As a team member in State Farm^® Agent PD Dandnaik’s office, Kyndra’s daily routine for a year and a half included riding two city buses up to three hours and walking another mile and a half every day to get to work. She repeated the process to get home.

“It would have been easy to just say forget it, but I wanted to work and learn,” Kyndra says. “I learned how to work here.”

In addition to working part time in PD’s office as a receptionist, Kyndra attended college classes part time as she pursued her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She used public transportation and her own two feet to get there, too.

Development and investment in his team members are the backbone of PD’s office in Redford, Mich., and his second office in Detroit. He encouraged Kyndra to pursue higher education as part of her overall development in his office.

“As part of her commitment to me and my office, I thought about what I should be doing to develop and support her,” PD says.

Kyndra, who is now licensed in Property & Casualty Insurance and Bank-trained, earned her college degree in psychology in May 2016. And PD and the team were there to celebrate with her. Kyndra credits PD with encouraging her to earn her college degree despite several obstacles that stood in her way

“The last few years of my life have completely changed since I started working here,” Kyndra says. “I have become more efficient, assertive and confident in everything I do.”

Kyndra wants to pursue her career with State Farm at one of the main Hub offices with dreams of opening her own State Farm^® office someday.

And she’s not riding buses anymore to get to work as she saved enough money to buy her own car.

“PD invests so much time and energy in us, it makes you want to do well for him and the rest of the team,” Kyndra says.

Finding the first job out of college or technical school is tough. It can be a stressful time filled with complicated decisions like picking the right type of company and choosing the right first job.

There is also a lot of competition. Internships can be a great way for students to determine whether a career or a company are the right fit. It also helps them gain real-world skills and experience to stand apart from their peers.

Internships for high school students can be hard to find. Luckily, for student Mai Vang, the STEP-UP Achieve program at AchieveMpls provides paid internships each year for 600 youth ages 16-21. More than 160 business in the area participate by providing jobs and mentoring for these young people. STEP-UP Achieve not only helps kids find internships, it also offers work-readiness courses to learn about the world of work.

Mai was lucky to have a sister, Kao Xue, a STEP-UP Achieve alumna, who suggested she join the program to explore careers.

Since Mai was 14 when she started, she did not have any work experience or training. Luckily, this is not a requirement to find an internship through STEP-UP Discover, the sister program of STEP-UP Achieve for younger students. She joined Teen Teamworks and worked with other teens to take care of several local parks.

For the next three summers, Mai gained a wide range of on-the-job experience through STEP-UP Achieve and explored different careers. She tried graphic design and then pursued other jobs, finally landing with the Mary Trondson State Farm^® agency.

Mary's office helped Mai build her customer service skills. "I loved it," Mai says. "I feel more comfortable now interacting with customers over the phone, collecting payments, and setting appointments."

Mai also helped Mary's office build stronger relationships with Hmong clients by translating customers' needs and concerns. Mary shared, "Mai was a great asset to us during her time with State Farm. Customers really enjoyed working with her and asked for her often!"

These many different internship experiences led Mai to begin her journey at the University of Minnesota this fall. She plans to learn more about business and financial services.

"I would tell other teens to start young." Mai says, when asked what advice she would offer t other high school students. "I didn't know anything about the different jobs available to me. STEP-UP Achieve helped me build my resume and get the training I needed to help me on my way."

Daniel and Sherry Cunningham’s son Matt heard tornado sirens revving up shortly after 7pm Sunday night in Vilonia, Arkansas. They switched on the TV to a Little Rock station. A tornado was on the ground near Maumelle, AR - headed directly in their direction at 50 mph ground speed. They knew they had about 20 minutes, maybe.

There was a flurry of activity to gather a few prize possessions. This left just enough time to rush next door to collect the neighbor’s pets. The family and pets took shelter in the closet and bathroom.

Daniel went into the bedroom and grabbed a mattress, telling Sherry (a stickler for a clean house), “We’ll make the bed up in the morning.”

Sherry had grabbed her laptop and a few items, and they were all in the hallway under the mattress. They had used up 15 minutes.

Sherry said she felt like this might be the end of everything for them. Conditions outside the last few minutes were  bad. They expressed their love for each other and waited…about two more minutes, then everything started to shake.

Daniel said at first, he could hear individual shingles coming off the roof. Then debris started slamming into the house intensely. They felt a shift in pressure and everything “seemed to lift” a little. The tornado had arrived.

A long minute later, and it was over. A board had fallen from somewhere and wedged against the wall, pinning the mattress down onto them. Sherry said that mattress probably saved their lives.

The next morning, they heard from their State Farm agent, Jay Paul Bernard, when he came to their house.  Daniel said they have had a very good experience with Jay Paul, and they love State Farm. Sherry said, “He’s been out to our house every day.”

The Cunninghams feel very much taken care of…“that’s what good neighbors do for one another.” Sherry added, that what seems to be important has been redefined from her experience.