Two local insurance agents have won an award for their charitable contributions that comes with a $3,000 donation for Second Harvest’s Bite2Go program, which provides weekend food to children in need.
Tom Moore and Randy Ahmann have been longtime partners at All Lines Insurance in north Spokane. The duo has been named 2020 Change Agents by Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance, taking first place in a national competition. The Change Agent awards are given to independent Liberty Mutual and Safeco agents who volunteer with local nonprofit organizations.
“It’s kind of a nice thing that Safeco does,” said Moore. “They encourage their agents to get involved in the community.”
Agents are asked to submit photos of themselves volunteering in the community and Moore and Ahmann submitted a photo of them delivering Bite2Go meals. Ten finalists, including Moore and Ahmann, were selected. People then voted online to pick the winners and Moore said they made every effort to garner votes, including recruiting friends, family members and clients to vote. “We blasted it out on Facebook,” he said.
Moore said he and Ahmann originally started their community efforts a few years ago by financially supporting a different nonprofit organization each month. One of those was Second Harvest and Moore said a representative from the charity came to their office to give a presentation on the Bite2Go program and encouraged them to volunteer, not just give money.
“He really encouraged us to volunteer with those guys and we did,” he said. “We built a relationship with those guys.”
They started focusing on Bite2Go instead of trying to help 12 different organizations. “When you have a different charity every month, you don’t have as much impact,” he said.
The two help make and deliver meals to Shiloh Elementary, where Moore attended school as a child. “We’ve decided that’s what we’re going to focus on,” he said. “There’s such tremendous need at that school.”
The fact that Moore is helping his former neighborhood helped seal the deal. “I’ve always been a North Side, Mead kid,” he said. “I still live in the North Side of Spokane.”
The Bite2Go program provides food for children to take home for the weekend. Students are referred to the program by their school counselor. Many of them receive free lunches while at school and may not have ready access to food over the weekend. The goal of the program is to prevent children from going hungry over the weekend.
The Bite2Go program has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, however. Moore said he and Ahmann used to help prepare and deliver 118 weekend meal packs every week. This school year, however, they’re only delivering about 30 meal packs each week because there are fewer students in the building. “It’s a lot less now,” he said.
Moore said he and Ahmann have gone a step further and recently got involved in a coat drive for students at Shiloh Elementary. “There’s need all over the community,” he said.
He’s pleased that the Bite2Go program will receive $3,000 from Liberty Mutual and Safeco. Moore said he’s glad that he and Ahmann have been able to make a difference at Shiloh Elementary. “It’s been eye opening and rewarding,” he said.
