LOUISVILLE — This National Volunteer Month, the Louisville-based Humana Foundation is announcing the results of its “Match Madness” initiative to double employee charitable donations. This biannual opportunity has generated a total of $1 million from Humana employees and $1.5 million in matching funds from the Humana Foundation to nonprofits across the country over the last three years, including $300,000 last month alone.
On March 5, Humana encouraged its more than 63,000 employees to donate to their favorite nonprofits and have their impact doubled by a company match.
For the first time, the company also awarded 11 randomly selected donors – including 6 from Kentucky – the opportunity to direct grants of $25,000 or $50,000 to nonprofits of their choosing. Marlene Speaker, a learning leader for Humana, is directing her $25,000 grant to Blessings in a Backpack Louisville, which sends food insecure kids home with healthy meals after school. The donation will provide a school year of hunger-free weekends for over 150 students at Semple Elementary, where Marlene’s sister teaches.
Other Kentucky winners:
- Kelsey Schneider, Claims, is gifting $25,000 to Kosair for Kids, the largest charity for children in Kentucky and Southern Indiana
- Lynn Westberg, Business Systems, is directing grants of $15,000 and $10,000 to Alley Cat Advocates and Play Cousins Collective, respectively
- Marian Myers Griffin, Software Engineer and 33-year Humana employee, is proud to support Bellarmine University and Assumption High School with $10,000 each
- Lichuan Yang, IT, is giving a $10,000 grant to Hospice of the Bluegrass and $15,000 to Doctors without Borders
- Robert Ranzau, Product Manager, is supporting student scholarships and the construction of an all-abilities community playground at Our Savior Lutheran School
Continuing this momentum, the Foundation will award $3,000 grants weekly this month to randomly selected employees who record volunteer hours.
CEO Tiffany Benjamin is inspired daily by Humana’s benevolent employee base, whose giving continues to increase despite the current economic climate. I’d be happy to connect you to Tiffany, employee winners and benefitting nonprofits who can speak to this encouraging trend.
