Aviva USA and Covenant House today announced a partnership that will impact the lives of thousands of youth across America.
- Two-year partnership will have an impact on thousands of youth across America.
Aviva USA and Covenant House today announced a partnership that will impact the lives of thousands of youth across America.
Covenant House is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas that provides food, clothing, shelter, immediate crisis care and an array of other services to homeless, runaway and at-risk kids. Aviva USA’s two-year sponsorship agreement represents one of the largest individual funding commitments to Covenant House in the organization’s 39-year history.
“This partnership with Aviva is going to absolutely help us change lives,” said Covenant House president Kevin Ryan. “Young people served by our crisis centres in 17 cities across America not only lack resources to meet their basic needs – such as food and shelter – they also often lack the belief that anyone cares about their plight.
“Clearly, Aviva cares. In short, this partnership is going to help us fulfill our mission to serve these young people and significantly enhance the effectiveness of our outreach.”
The partnership for 2012-2013 will be formally announced tonight in Times Square at the 21st annual Covenant House Candlelight Vigil, headlined by four-time Gospel Music Association female vocalist of the year Natalie Grant. The event will be followed by a sleep out by more than 40 CEOs who will spend the night in cardboard boxes on the concrete outside Covenant House’s New York shelter at 460 West 41st Street.
Aviva USA is part of Aviva plc – the world’s sixth-largest insurance group. Aviva USA is a sales leader of indexed life insurance and indexed annuities. It is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, and serves customers in all 50 states.
The Covenant House mission aligns perfectly with Aviva’s Street to School program, a global philanthropic initiative that supports youth-focused charities. Through Street to School, Aviva plc’s goal is to help 500,000 children worldwide get off the streets and into school or professional training programs by 2014.
“We have made a long-term commitment to making a difference in the lives of homeless youth around the world,” said Chris Jones, Aviva USA chief marketing officer. “Our financial commitment is just the beginning of our partnership with Covenant House, as we also plan to make significant investments of time and energy.
“That’s why we’re going to have boots on the ground in this battle to help give a future and hope to the thousands of homeless young people across our country. We will involve our employees, our agents and even our customers in working with Covenant House to reach out to homeless youth, provide them educational opportunities and raise public awareness about the thousands of kids struggling to survive on the streets every night.”
Jones added the partnership illustrates Aviva USA’s pledge to bring humanity back to the life insurance industry. He said Aviva USA provides the ideal blend of product knowledge with its heartfelt empathy, demonstrated by involvement in charitable causes and social awareness campaigns. The company created a concept it calls Youmanity – blending the words you and humanity to represent the belief that one person, you, can make a difference through an act of kindness, big or small.
“Youmanity is the cornerstone of Aviva USA’s company culture,” Jones said. “Helping these young people in partnership with Covenant House is just another example of what we mean when we say we are a different kind of insurance company, one that puts people before policies.”
To learn more, click on the links about Street to School and Youmanity.
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Aviva media contacts:
Kevin Waetke, Public Relations Director
Office: +1 515 342 3822
Cell: +1 515 782 3256
Email: kevin.waetke@avivausa.com
Steve Carlson, Public Relations Manager
Office: +1 515 342 6403
Cell: +1 515 782 6317
Email: steven.carlson@avivausa.com
Covenant House media contact:
Tom Manning, VP Public Relations/Marketing
Office: +1 212 727 4920
Cell: +1 845 300 2126
Email: tmanning@covenanthouse.org
Notes to editors:
About Aviva USA
Aviva USA is a sales leader of indexed life insurance and indexed annuities. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, Aviva USA also has offices in Topeka, Kansas, and Melville, New York. Aviva USA has approximately one million customers and employs more than 1,500 people across the country. Aviva USA is part of Aviva plc and can trace its presence in the United States back to 1896.
About Covenant House
Covenant House provides 24/7 crisis care and on-going support for homeless young people in need of a safe haven. Assistance can be found by simply calling the Covenant House NINELINE (1 800 999 9999) or visiting www.nineline.org. More information about Covenant House and resources for homeless youth can be found at www.covenanthouse.org.