We support numerous community causes through our Charitable Trust.
Our philanthropic focus extends to more than 100 organizations that serve low-income and at-risk individuals; promote education, health, and the arts; and support diversity initiatives.
Some of our recent contributions support victims of child abuse and human trafficking, a collaborative venture to assist Topeka’s unhoused population, and year-round STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) activities for Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka.
The Charitable Trust, overseen by 13 employee leaders in the company, also provides funding for enrichment opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. The Veterans Community Project creates tiny house developments in Kansas City. Elementary school students in disadvantaged neighborhoods learn ballet through a Kansas Ballet Company after-school program. Developmentally disabled adults find employment opportunities through TARC and Capper Foundation, and children participate in theater programs in partnership with the Topeka Performing Arts Center, the Lawrence Arts Center, and the Jayhawk Theatre.
Our more than 500 employees also give time and money to various initiatives that enhance overall well-being.
Through our Dollars for Hours program, employees who volunteer 50 hours or more each year can convert time spent coaching, chaperoning school events, or serving on a board into a company contribution of $150 or more for a nonprofit of their choice.
Employees can also make individual donations to schools and universities and the Charitable Trust will match their amounts up to $3,000 per associate per year.
Each fall, employees paint, pull weeds, pack backpacks with food staples, and provide other labor to assist United Way of Kaw Valley agencies through the organization’s community-wide Nancy Perry Day of Caring, for which Security Benefit serves as the premier sponsor. Many employees visit classrooms during the year to teach business concepts to students through Junior Achievement of Kansas. In partnership with Meals on Wheels, employees deliver meals to elderly and homebound residents so they can live independently.
Commitment to Education
Security Benefit is one of the first companies to support the retirement market for school employees. Today, we provide retirement products for educators and school personnel in more than 4,500 school districts. For years, we’ve had an exclusive relationship with NEA Member Benefits to provide retirement products to its nearly 3.2 million members across the country.
For more than 25 years, the Charitable Trust has funded the Kansas Teacher of the Year program, considered one of the best programs of its kind in the nation. We’ve provided the Teacher of the Year and seven finalists and district nominees with opportunities to tour and mentor/support educators in schools across the state. Security Benefit has honored more than 3,000 Kansas teachers and invested more than half a million dollars, representing one of the largest contributions made by a single company in support of Kansas education.
Focused on the education retirement market for more than 50 years, we also support the National Teachers Hall of Fame (headquartered in Emporia, Kansas) and provide scholarships to several Kansas universities.