Community Projects are Crucial Contribution

June 21, 2019

For 37 years, Leadership Wilkes-Barre has offered local business professionals the opportunity to develop their leadership skills while working together to strengthen their communities. According to Sy Foguel, CEO and President of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies, “Berkshire Hathaway GUARD was founded and maintains a majority presence in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Our annual partnership with Leadership Wilkes-Barre has afforded many of our employees a unique opportunity for personal growth as well as a sense of ownership over the progress of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”

The 2019 graduating class of Leadership Wilkes-Barre features GUARD’s 32nd member of the program. This year’s participant worked with other individuals carrying out the “Dressed to the 9s” project to benefit Dress for Success Luzerne County, an organization that provides women in need with professional attire and development tools to help them secure employment.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD’s other recent participants in Leadership Wilkes-Barre have worked with a wide variety of worthy causes including:

  • “Healthcare Heroes” raised funds for an EKG machine at a local medical clinic
  • “Kiss Krew” built a stage for the Kids Innovating Stage and Sound (KISS) Theatre
  • “FIRE: Freedom for Innocent Rights Everywhere” furnished a domestic violence victims’ center with new furniture and appliances
  • “Bright Lights/Fit City” worked with the city of Wilkes-Barre to provide lighting around the city’s Public Square

Here’s why Elizabeth Hartman of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD says company contributions are crucial:

  • Moving the Merchandise: A donation-based company like Dress for Success doesn’t always have the staff on-hand to help sort out incoming goods. When those donations are also the source of income, it’s essential that items end up on clothing racks as soon as possible and spend as little time as possible in storage areas. With helping hands from Leadership Wilkes-Barre, one business works hard to support another.
  • Gaining Perspective: We rarely get to step into the shoes of other members of the community. As Hartman explains, “Berkshire Hathaway GUARD’s participants in Leadership Wilkes-Barre get to move outside their comfort zones via rewarding experiences that allow them to engage more directly with their community. I have had more than one employee say to me that, even years later, they treasure their time with Leadership Wilkes-Barre and can’t believe all that they were able to accomplish!”

Source: 1888 Press Release