Corey is a volunteer Wish Granter for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the famous non-profit organization that helps chronically and critically ill children live out their dreams.

“Hope is contagious,” says Corey, a truly amazing Good Neighbor and State Farm director. “By giving these kids something to look forward to, we’re helping take their minds off of their illness, even if it’s only for a little while.”

You read that right; she got a varsity letter in community service. Victoria’s been at State Farm^® for 5 years. She works on technical projects out of the State Farm Atlanta hub. She’s also a Girl Scouts Gold Award winner and has been donating, volunteering and generally good-neighboring for her entire life. That’s part of the reason she loves working at State Farm.

“Giving and giving back; that’s just a part of what I believe in” said Victoria. “And that’s what State Farm is all about, too, and that’s a big reason why I decided to work here in the first place.”

Why not give back?

Before coming to State Farm, she graduated from Georgia State University (GSU). Victoria’s grateful for the educational experiences she had at GSU and that’s why she’s a regular donor to her alma mater.

“I received some scholarships when I was in school that allowed me to study abroad,” Victoria said. “That experience was really transformational for me.”

So as soon as she graduated, Victoria didn’t think twice about showing her gratitude by donating money to help fund scholarships and programs that would help other students.

“When I realized that I could donate and help fund some of the programs that helped me out, I figured, ‘Why not?’”

To make her donation even more impactful, Victoria used the company’s Matching Gift Program. Available to all State Farm employees, the company will match an individual’s donation, penny for penny.

“I donated, and State Farm matched my donation, so I was able to donate twice as much, which was great.”

Another thing that’s great? Victoria uses the 100 for Good app to keep record of all her charitable work. Logging these acts and seeing the acts other people have recorded helps demonstrate the power of collective good. She hopes her service inspires others, as she’s been inspired to make a difference in her community.

Good Neighbor Day is Sept. 28. Make a plan to give back and join in the collective good.

State Farm and 1871, a Chicago-based non-profit that supports entrepreneurs, teamed up to sponsor and organize the “Hackathon for Good.” The event benefited the technical needs of True Star Foundation, a Chicagoland youth non-profit. 

“The Hackathon for Good gave us a glimpse into the future. It provided technology solutions that allow the organization to operate at a higher level, engage youth in ways that excite and inspire them, and allow us to reach more young people in a cost effective way,” said True Star Foundation Co-Founder DeAnna Sherman.

True Star's weekly after-school, in-school and summer programming teaches students about a variety of disciplines in the media industry. Students not only learn about the profession, they actually work cooperatively to produce professional-quality work in each area.

The hackathon teams provided True Star with several technical solutions. These included digitizing its curriculum, helping its students create digital portfolios, and providing the organization with a blueprint for a mobile app that will extend their reach and mission.

It’s all part of a commitment to build a better future for our communities through innovation.

“State Farm believes in supporting our communities, in being a Good Neighbor. We were excited to be part of the Hackathon for Good with 1871 and to support True Star Foundation,” said Fawad Ahmad, State Farm Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. “It was a great opportunity to observe innovative ideas that will ultimately benefit the students True Star serves.”

“At 1871, we support innovators that are building a better tomorrow for their communities,” said 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler. “Organizations like the True Star Foundation are doing the necessary, on-the-ground work to empower youth in Chicago to lead. We were proud to join our longtime and dedicated partner State Farm to create technical solutions for this important non-profit.”

Marcy’s a State Farm^® employee in Arizona. She has a big family; between her and her husband, they have six kids ranging in age from 10-19, but the baby clothes she crochets aren’t for them. They’re for babies that Marcy will never meet. More specifically, they’re for the one baby she never got the chance to meet.

The greatest joy, the biggest heartache

Almost 20 years ago, Marcy was pregnant for the first time, and she was absolutely thrilled. “I’d wanted to be a mom forever so getting pregnant was about the most exciting thing I could think of.” In anticipation, Marcy started making clothes and blankets for her new baby. “I’ve always loved crocheting,” Marcy said. “And crocheting stuff for my new baby was like a dream come true.”

Unfortunately for Marcy, her joy soon turned into tragedy when she suffered a miscarriage.

“I was crushed,” remembered Marcy. “To have the thing you wanted more than anything in the world taken away is the worst thing imaginable.”

Sadly, Marcy’s painful experience is all too common; estimates show that about 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Like many women who suffer miscarriages, Marcy found herself in a dark place.

“It was horribly sad,” she said. “I’ve always thought that the best way to get out of a sad situation is by doing something good for somebody else.” Looking at the tiny hats, sweaters and blankets that she’d made for her baby, Marcy made a decision. Not to succumb to her grief, but to help others.

Turning pain into love

Marcy took all of the things she’d made for her baby and donated them to Newborns in Need, a national organization that provides new mothers with baby-related necessities. “These were made with love and if I wasn’t going to use them, I wanted them to go somewhere where they’d be needed.”

Slowly but surely, Marcy began to cope with her grief. She kept crocheting, she kept donating and a little over a year from her loss, she gave birth to her first daughter. “I was blessed with her, and have been blessed ever since,” said Marcy.

Marcy had three more children after that and when she married her current husband, became the step-mother to two more kids. Through it all, Marcy’s never stopped crocheting. In addition to Newborns in Need, she donates her handmade creations to places like Arizona Needy Newborns and Project Linus.

“There are so many organizations out there that need things like this,” Marcy said. “And this helped me as much as it’s helping them, so I’ll be doing this forever.”

“I think going through a loss like I did makes me appreciate what I have even more,” said Marcy.

“If I can help somebody who’s going through what I went through, I’m going to keep doing it.”

100 for Good™

If you haven't already, download the new 100 for Good^™ app from the iOS and Android App stores.

Marcy’s a State Farm^® employee in Arizona. She has a big family; between her and her husband, they have six kids ranging in age from 10-19, but the baby clothes she crochets aren’t for them. They’re for babies that Marcy will never meet. More specifically, they’re for the one baby she never got the chance to meet.

The greatest joy, the biggest heartache

Almost 20 years ago, Marcy was pregnant for the first time, and she was absolutely thrilled. “I’d wanted to be a mom forever so getting pregnant was about the most exciting thing I could think of.” In anticipation, Marcy started making clothes and blankets for her new baby. “I’ve always loved crocheting,” Marcy said. “And crocheting stuff for my new baby was like a dream come true.”

Unfortunately for Marcy, her joy soon turned into tragedy when she suffered a miscarriage.

“I was crushed,” remembered Marcy. “To have the thing you wanted more than anything in the world taken away is the worst thing imaginable.”

Sadly, Marcy’s painful experience is all too common; estimates show that about 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Like many women who suffer miscarriages, Marcy found herself in a dark place.

“It was horribly sad,” she said. “I’ve always thought that the best way to get out of a sad situation is by doing something good for somebody else.” Looking at the tiny hats, sweaters and blankets that she’d made for her baby, Marcy made a decision. Not to succumb to her grief, but to help others.

Turning pain into love

Marcy took all of the things she’d made for her baby and donated them to Newborns in Need, a national organization that provides new mothers with baby-related necessities. “These were made with love and if I wasn’t going to use them, I wanted them to go somewhere where they’d be needed.”

Slowly but surely, Marcy began to cope with her grief. She kept crocheting, she kept donating and a little over a year from her loss, she gave birth to her first daughter. “I was blessed with her, and have been blessed ever since,” said Marcy.

Marcy had three more children after that and when she married her current husband, became the step-mother to two more kids. Through it all, Marcy’s never stopped crocheting. In addition to Newborns in Need, she donates her handmade creations to places like Arizona Needy Newborns and Project Linus.

“There are so many organizations out there that need things like this,” Marcy said. “And this helped me as much as it’s helping them, so I’ll be doing this forever.”

“I think going through a loss like I did makes me appreciate what I have even more,” said Marcy.

“If I can help somebody who’s going through what I went through, I’m going to keep doing it.”

Join the conversation on Yammer!

For 11 years, a garage sale has brought a community together.

Kathy Schumacher, Underwriting service assistant 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.

“When I saw the email that we got a second CSES (Community Service and Education Support) team day, I made sure to mention that to my coworkers in all divisions – production, call center, Underwriting. Every year, the sale gets bigger and bigger so we can use all the hands we can get.”

“Kathy saw the opportunity for people to do two days. She started building buzz around the office and was able to get people who had not used the CSES,” said Sabrina Morris, Underwriting support supervisor. “One employee said they would have not used the CSES day because volunteering can be intimidating by yourself, but this person was able to pair up with someone they knew and volunteer together. It encouraged more employees to do it.”

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 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.

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.

Join the conversation on Yammer!

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.”

Forty causes will be awarded a $25,000 grant each to assist their communities. Residents of the United States can submit a cause at www.neighborhoodassist.com from June 7-June 21 or when 2,000 submissions are reached, whichever comes first. Ultimately, voters will decide which community improvement projects win big.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist asks individuals to identify causes that would help make their communities safer, stronger, and smarter.

The State Farm Review Committee will then narrow down the field, using a scoring rubric to identify the top 200 submissions.

The public will have a chance to vote up to 10 times a day, every day for 10 days from August 16-August 25 at www.neighborhoodassist.com for their favorite causes from the list of finalists.

The 40 causes that receive the most votes will each win a $25,000 grant. Winners will be announced on Good Neighbor Day, September 28.

Since the program began, State Farm has awarded $5 million to communities across North America, supporting a wide variety of causes, including:

• Fighting childhood hunger
• Helping homeless veterans
• Revitalizing parks
• Improving literacy
• Offering athletic programs for children with disabilities 

“State Farm has a rich history of giving back to the communities where we live and work, helping make life go right,” said Kellie Clapper, State Farm Assistant Vice President. “From identifying an important cause to rallying your community to vote for it, this program is all about neighbors helping neighbors.”

Last year, 72,000 Americans cast 1.8 Million votes for their favorite causes, selecting winners from small towns and big cities. Be part of the movement and submit your cause to improve your community starting June 7.

You might also be interested in:

• A Young Life Lost: A Legacy of Safety
• Things Are Looking Up
• Finding A New Path

‘Tis the season to give back. And it’s the first time State Farm® brings professional athletes Aaron Rodgers and Chris Paul together, teaming up for charity.

The Challenge

Working with trick shot experts, @DudePerfect, Rodgers and Paul are challenging each other to bring their best trick shot to benefit a charity of their choice. The #TrickShotChallenge asks us all to do something amazing for our favorite charities during the holidays.

Giving Back

For Rodgers, it’s the work of the Midwest Athletes Childhood Cancer Fund (MACC). The MACC has worked diligently for 39 years to “cure cancer out of existence”.

For Paul, family has always been a priority. To honor his late grandfather, Chris launched a foundation to provide youth with academic and athletic scholarships.

The Charities

The MACC Fund

Former Bucks player Jon McGlocklin formed the MACC Fund in 1976. McGlockin’s good friend and iconic Bucks radio announcer, Eddie Doucette, had a toddler son, Brett, who was battling leukemia. The MACC Fund’s research and support has made an impact on the treatment of children. Thanks in part to the organization’s good work, the five-year cancer survival rate has improved from 20 percent to 80 percent today.

“When Eddie and I started the MACC Fund, we never thought down the road, nearly 40 years, and certainly never dreamed of contributing more than $55 million,” said McGlocklin, the MACC Fund President and Co-Founder. “We just wanted to help kids like Brett have a chance to live.”

[Brett Doucette with his Doctor, Dr. Jim Casper – 2010]

Brett Doucette was one of the organization’s first success stories. He was able to beat leukemia and is now an adult with a young family of his own. And because his family allowed the organization to spotlight the difficult time they were going through, many other families have since been able to help their children become cancer free.

The Chris Paul Family Foundation

The Chris Paul Family Foundation works to support projects in communities throughout Louisiana, California and North Carolina, including:

• Building homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity;
• Providing reading eye glasses for young children whose families do not have the financial means to provide them;
• Packaging weekend meals for elementary aged students who qualify for free or reduced meals during the week days;
• And offering free prom dresses to young girls who lack the financial resources to purchase them.

One young boy who is a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Watts, CA, experienced great joy and excitement when he saw the Chris Paul Family Foundation had renovated the Club. The renovation included a technology lab with computers for young students.

[Boys and Girls Club of Watts new computer lab]

Check out Rodgers and Paul’s trick shots here:

Aaron Rodgers | Chris Paul