Arbella Raffle Nets $15,500 for Western Mass. Disaster Relief

SPRINGFIELD, MA--(Marketwire - Aug 10, 2011) - The Arbella Insurance Group today announced that employees from its claims offices held a raffle that raised $7,600 for the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. The Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation then joined its employees with a donation to bring the total up to $15,500. The tornadoes on June 1 that affected western Massachusetts demonstrated that none of our communities are immune to disaster and inspired a spirit of giving among the employee base.

"Here at Arbella, we have a tradition of giving back to the community," said Director of Claims Elizabeth Kim. "We decided that a raffle during our summer outing was the perfect way to get everyone involved and have some fun while making a difference for people in need."

"Arbella employees are generous by nature, whether it's holding food drives, participating in charity walks or donating to Toys for Tots," added John Perlowski, Director of Claims at Arbella's Wakefield office. "When you start working at Arbella, you quickly realize that giving back is part of who we are. It's so rewarding to know that at just $1 per ticket for this raffle, our team was able to raise a whopping $7,600 to help others."

"This generous gift will help ensure that the Chapter is strong and ready to respond when the next disaster affects families in our hometowns -- whether it be a home fire or severe thunderstorms tonight, next week, or next month," said Paige Thayer, Deputy Director of Chapter Support for the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. "We are more than grateful for this donation. Arbella has been and continues to be a great community partner."

The $15,500 donation is in addition to $20,000 donated by Arbella's Charitable Foundation in June to the tornado relief effort. Arbella sent checks for $10,000 each to the American Red Cross, Pioneer Valley Chapter and the Salvation Army, to assist those impacted by the tornadoes.

"It was important to us to respond as quickly as possible when this disaster hit," said Brad Bennett, Director of Claims at Arbella's West Springfield office. "Within hours, our local agents and adjusters were assessing the damage and handing out emergency checks. We're doing everything we can to make it easier for our customers to get their lives back on track. Hopefully, our initial donation helped even further."

In the aftermath of the tornadoes, Arbella has already processed 878 insurance claims, including homes, autos and businesses, for affected policy holders in Western Massachusetts.

Arbella has long been committed to corporate citizenship as an integral part of its service to the community. The company is dedicated to supporting charitable organizations that work so hard to positively impact the lives of those around them. Last year, the company donated more than $1.6 million and 1,880 employee hours to not-for-profit organizations throughout New England.

About the Arbella Insurance Group and the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation
Established in 1988, the Arbella Insurance Group (www.arbella.com) is a company with more than $600M in revenue with approximately $1B in assets, headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. Arbella is a customer-focused regional property and casualty insurance company, providing personal and business insurance in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and business insurance in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Arbella Insurance Group founded the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation in 2004. The mission of the Foundation is to engage in activities and to support not-for-profit organizations that have a significant positive impact on the people and communities served by Arbella.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization -- not a government agency -- and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.