To help close out the yearlong celebration of ERIE’s 90th anniversary, the company recently made a trio of donations totaling $90,000 to three deserving charities.
The donations were part of a Legacy of Giving Contest that invited all ERIE employees to vote for one charity in their respective areas to receive $30,000. Each organization selected to participate in the contest supports a cause that was important to Susan Hirt Hagen, the late daughter of ERIE founder H.O. Hirt, ERIE board member and first chair of the ERIE Charitable Giving Committee. Hirt Hagen, who passed away in June, was a champion of organizations that supported domestic violence prevention and youth and education.
Over two weeks this past November, ERIE employees had the opportunity to vote for a charity in their region to win one of the three $30,000 donations. With nearly 2,000 votes cast, the winning charities from each area included:
- The Erie, Pennsylvania, Home Office chose SafeNet, a nonprofit that provides services to people victimized by domestic violence and relationship abuse.
- The East Region of the company footprint chose the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Hudson Valley, which provides a temporary home-away-from-home for families with critically ill or traumatically injured children.
- The West Region of the company footprint chose The Julian Center, an organization that assists survivors of domestic violence.
Betsy Vorsheck, current chair of ERIE’s Charitable Giving Committee and Hirt Hagen’s niece, presented the winning charities with their checks at an annual employee year-end celebration on Dec. 16. The donations represent a continuation of ERIE’s 90-year legacy of giving back to the communities in which it does business.