Volunteerism

When Good Hands^® People Help

Thomas Walters owns three thriving Allstate agencies in and around Wake Forest, North Carolina. But most folks know him as the go-to guy in the community, the one you want if you're raising money or organizing volunteers to make life a little better for someone. Yet Thomas doesn't ask for donations or try to shame people into sharing their time for a good cause.

He just tells stories. Like the one about the single working mother who was about to lose her home, until a scholarship that paid for after-school child care freed up money for the mortgage. Or a middle school girl, orphaned after her mother was murdered, who asked only for a saxophone so she could play in the school band. Thomas met both, and hundreds more, through his work as a leader of the Triangle YMCA-one of the largest in the country, serving more than 50,000 families.

"When most people hear about someone in need, their natural impulse is to help," he says. "We're just giving them the opportunity." And nobody helps more than Thomas. He directs fundraisers, develops new programs and partnerships that involve other organizations. "You're not a part of the community once a month when you volunteer or go to a board meeting. You're part of the community every day. You have to be looking for what's needed and thinking how problems can be solved."

He's helped increase fundraising for the Y tenfold, supporting tutoring, mentoring, wellness and other programs. And the Y is just one of his causes. Over the years he's served on the Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, the Fire Department and volunteered with other youth programs. For all these reasons, he received the 2009 Ray Lynch Award-Allstate's highest community service honor for agency owners.

Give Back Day

Allstate Volunteerism on MLK Day 2010
As part of the Company's recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King's vision and its own commitment to Volunteerism...

But he's far from alone. In Maryland, claims processor Chrissina Herbert has helped collect thousand of pounds of food for the needy, money for child cancer research, blankets for the home-less and more. In Tennessee, claims employee Dan Onkst coached his wheelchair basketball team to a spot in the national championships. In communities across the country, one of every three Allstate employees volunteered through company-sponsored activities-more than 160,000 hours in 2009 alone.

Meanwhile, back in Wake Forest, Thomas Walters personally made sure the little girl got her saxophone. And the mother who almost lost her house? She now volunteers at the Y, raising scholarship money so other parents won't have to face the same impossible choice. Because everyone likes a story with a happy ending.