“A strong company culture of employee involvement in the community makes for a very motivated team.”
When Renee Carter joined Primerica in 2007 to work as the Programs and Events Coordinator, the company was already successfully raising money for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life Gwinnett. But when Carter’s niece Audrey Wynn died from breast cancer in 2010, it got personal. Carter says, “Coordinating the Relay for Life campaign became more than just part of my job, it became a way for me to remember my niece and honor her life.”
Primerica – the Presenting Sponsor of Relay for Life Gwinnett since 2013 – continues to be named among Top Corporate Relay Teams nationwide. Many people credit Renee Carter’s leadership of the campaign for this continued success. “I can’t say enough about Renee Carter. As a result of Renee’s leadership, creativity, enthusiasm, dedication, and passion for the American Cancer Society, she has led her associates to raise over 140K in the past three years for Relay for Life. Her energy is contagious. After fundraising all night, she’s at the 6 am roll call to close the Relay event . . . still smiling and representing Primerica,” said Relay for Life’s Senior Community Manager Roxanne Tigue.
Carter is adamant that Primerica’s success at fundraising is a team effort. She points out that many of the 1,638 employees in Primerica’s Duluth headquarters have been personally affected by cancer and whether they are directly fundraising or just contributing, a majority of Primerica’s employees pitch in for the cause, year after year. Hard work coupled with a strong company culture of employee involvement in the community make for a very motivated team, according to Carter. “They want to help and do anything I ask,” she says.
Competition between teams puts the FUN into fundraising. With Primerica’s 2017 theme of “Make the Cure a Reality” each of the ten teams has chosen a moniker based on a reality TV show. A few include: “Dancing with the Cure” “Keeping Up with the Cure-dashians” and “Say Yes to Cancerless.”
Primerica has nearly fifty Relay for Life fundraising events. A few of Primerica’s Relay for Life fundraising favorites include the Big Cookout where their CEO becomes grill master for the day; the Tricycle Race; and Raffle Mania. Carter and her team also organize an Online Auction and Wear Jeans to Work Days where employees can wear jeans on designated days after making a small donation.
The success of the annual campaign continues to keep Primerica a top Relay for Life Team. They aim to keep up their winning streak with an $85,000 donation goal for 2017. For Renee Carter, each dollar raised for Relay for Life represents hope. She knows that for her, and so many others, Relay for Life will always be so much more than a job or an event, it will always be personal.
Visit http://www.primerica.com/public/community.html to find out more about Primerica’s commitment to helping communities through grant funding, corporate donations, in kind services, and employee volunteerism.
