Twenty-one local charities benefited from the company's "Charity Fund."
Wednesday, January 2, 2013

SAN DIEGO (January 2, 2013) – Amid talk and worries about the “fiscal cliff,” employees of Cavignac & Associates hung on to hope of a brighter future for those less privileged by donating a combined $15,750 to 21 San Diego non-profit organizations as part of the company's 13th annual "Charity Fund" employee gift-giving program.
 
A San Diego-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm, Cavignac & Associates employs 40 people at its downtown San Diego offices. The company established the Charity Fund program in 2000 when employees decided to emulate the company’s corporate mission to support the local community and give back to it in a meaningful, tangible way. The Charitable Fund allows employees to direct specific amounts from their paychecks each pay period throughout the year to non-profit and civic organizations they believe are doing the most good.
 
“The Charity Fund gift-giving program isn’t just abut being socially responsible, it’s about enabling our employees to connect their hearts and minds to the community in which they work and live and embrace the causes they believe in most,” said Jeffrey Cavignac, president and principal of Cavignac & Associates. “The employees themselves decide how and where to direct the funds they have contributed each year. I’m immensely proud of them for their generosity and efforts to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
 
Same as last year, monies were carefully divided and directed toward the Alpha Project, Big Sisters and Big Brothers Clubs, Fisher House, Mama’s Kitchen, Monarch School, Photocharity, Polinsky Center, Reality Changers, San Diego Center for Children, San Diego Junior Theater, Senior Wellness Center, STARS, Toussaint Academy, Veterans Village, Voices for Children, and YMCA Overnight Camps.
 
This year, employees also chose to support the Advancing Compassion Project, devoted to improving human health, alleviating poverty and homelessness, and helping abandoned and endangered animals and ecosystems; Just in Time for Foster Youth, an organization that works to provide a lifeline to every youth leaving the foster care system so they can continue to thrive and enjoy productive, satisfying lives; and Wounded Warrier Foundation, whose mission is to help injured and disabled military heroes leading the fight in the war against terrorism.
 
Cavignac & Associates' employees also once again "adopted" two separate families through the Say San Diego program, wrapping and delivering clothing, toys and grocery gift cards to each family. Earlier this year, monies from the company's Charity Fund were also directed toward providing care kits for U.S. Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Operation Caregiver Nice Guys Fund.
 
In addition to giving monetary contributions, nearly all of Cavignac & Associates’ employees volunteered their time each month during the year to help serve lunches at the Senior Wellness Center in downtown San Diego.
 
In addition to contributions made by employees through the Charitable Fund, Cavignac & Associates donates approximately five percent of its corporate profits to various local charities, including the Challenged Athletes Foundation, YMCA, Bridges to Community, the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA, and Rotary, to name only a few.
 
Celia Mondfrans chaired the committee that selected recipient charities and determined the donation amounts for each. Other committee members included Sue Marberry, Rachel Boucher, Barbara Carter, Jolinda Kramer, Susan McFarland, Bethany Mongold, Bonne Mongold and Janis Theodore. Committee members wrapped gifts for the adopted families during their lunch hour recently and made arrangements for volunteers to deliver them. The committee also coordinated the volunteers who served dinners at the Senior Wellness Center.