The Pasadena branch of Tokio Marine America, a property and casualty insurer, and its sister company, TM Claims Service, work hard to insure companies against loss. Yet the team of 250 employees in the Pasadena location is also committed to another project: putting smiles on the faces of the children who live at Hillsides Residential Treatment services. Each year the office has provided the children with toys during the holidays and school backpacks in the fall. The company has also hosted several book drives for Hillsides and donated money raised from unique in-house fundraisers – such as employees paying for the privilege to wear jeans on Friday.
Peggy McCarte, vice president of underwriting operations for Tokio Marine America, discovered Hillsides in 2001 when she and a couple of coworkers googled local charities. Hillsides popped up, and a relationship was established, driven by their desire to help children in need. Luckily for Hillsides, the employees at Tokio Marine’s Pasadena location are competitive. Every August, each department in the Pasadena office is asked to donate one full school backpack. But each department tries to outdo each other and ends up doubling the amount of backpacks with enough left-overs to donate extra supplies to the teachers. Another stroke of good fortune for Hillsides is that Tokio Marine’s Pasadena office is located kitty-corner to a Target store, making holiday shopping for the children of Hillsides very convenient for Tokio Marine employees.
Tokio Marine, headquartered in Japan, operates under the Japanese concept of anshin, which means enduring safety, security and peace of mind. Their corporate social responsibility philosophy encompasses another Japanese concept, magokoro, which loosely translates to “sincerity and acting with a pure heart.” These concepts dovetail into the giving mentality of the company’s employees, and are why Tokio Marine employees are committed to helping others. “We don’t give because we have to, we give because we want to,” said David Brooks, senior vice president of human resources for Tokio Marine America. Hillsides can rest easy knowing that Tokio Marine is there for the children.
