The month of November is all about giving and thanks, and when it comes to the Texas panhandle, the giving is abundant and the thanks ring loud.
One such event that allows folks to actively pour their heart into an organization they care about is the Panhandle Gives where their donations are amplified. This year, over $10 million was raised and 250 organizations were touched by the generosity of others.
While the Panhandle Gives is a well-known event and is often an organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, there are folks who work behind the scenes, thinking of ways to give. And with one single idea, a business located right here in Pampa used the tools they had to create a winning situation for every person involved, and, as per the Texas panhandle way, the giving was big and the thanks was loud.
Hudson Roberson of Farmer’s Insurance wanted to give back to the community in a way that was creative, logical, and highly beneficial to the receivers and services they provide.
“This is our first year doing something like this, and ironically it started out with doing turkey dinners for everyone. But it’s been my experience whenever I’ve done those in the past, some people have no idea how to cook a turkey or they don’t have a way to. So a lot of the turkeys that you raised funds for end up in the dumpster. My team and I brainstormed and we thought, ‘let’s pick a couple of charities that are making a local impact today in our community.’ I was researching what was available to the entire community, and in my research, Tralee Crisis Center kept popping up repeatedly. So that was our sign. We decided to do Tralee, Harvest House and High Plains Food Bank.”
“The time that we decided to raise these funds was about the time when SNAP food benefits went away and people were struggling to put food on the table. We wanted to know what we as insurance agents could do to make sure these people could meet these food banks and non-profits where they’re at because most of the crisis that’s happened within the last six weeks has been putting dinner on the table. So that was our heart behind it.”
“How I did it was for every quote that I got to do during the month of November, it was $1 that I was going to give to the charity of that specific person’s choice. So it gave them the power to say, ‘you can do my quotes, I want my money to go to Tralee, or Harvest House, or High Plains. There was an overwhelming support, and another big blessing came from finding partners to match. There is a guy out of Amarillo who is a long-time church buddy of mine, Chase Scales, who has his own roofing company (CRS Roofing), and I called him and told him what I was wanting to do and he said, ‘I love giving back, that’s what we’re going to do.’ Then at my district office, Kimberly Brandyberry Jones caught wind of this and was like, yes! That allowed us to not only raise those funds, but it also allowed us to triple our impact. Now for every quote that my team and I got to do, instead of $1, it was $3. We tripled in size.”
The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect with the Panhandle Gives event in full swing, so Hudson and his team decided to make the money go even further by donating to those organizations through Panhandle Gives.
“The Panhandle Gives was definitely a God-thing. Their whole event was the exact week we were looking to wrap up our fundraiser, so it was perfect. We gave our quote money to Panhandle Gives to amplify that effect. So really our money quadrupled.”
Needless to say, this first year was more than just a trial run for Farmer’s Insurance, it was an enormous success, and Hudson and his team are already excited for next year and are making plans to make it even bigger and better.
“What I learned from this experience is I’m going to get with business partners sooner because most people have already done their budgets for the year, so I want to get with them in the summer time and they’re looking for opportunities, and we also want it to go on longer than just a month.”
Tralee Crisis Center Director, Penny Harvey, is overjoyed and truly humbled by the generousity of Hudson and his team, and of course those who donated and continue to donate to their cause, because ultimately, those people are helping take care of Tralee’s clients and that’s what the beloved organization is all about.
“To have businesses like Farmer’s to partner with us is huge because we can’t do it without our donors,” Penny said. “We can’t do it without the people that support and want to be a part of helping our clients that walk through the door. I will tell you the panhandle is probably the biggest pool of givers that I’ve ever seen, and I have seen it increase over the years since I’ve been at Tralee. I have seen people just step up and be the voice to make our county better, and they’re doing that in more than one way. Not just monetarily, but in time and doing an Angel Tree or Christmas Tree of Blessings, and wanting to give back. Our community wants to serve and they’re trying to find ways to serve, just like Hudson and his group. We’re all wanting to obtain the same goal-we want to help people, to be the people we need to be to show the love of the Lord. He gives us the blessings and He wants us to share them, and we get to do that. Pampa gives us the opportunity to do that, and the people in it.”
And while Penny is grateful for what Hudson and his partners did for them, in turn, Hudson is grateful to have an extremely essential organization like Tralee here in Pampa.
“We are firm believers of what y’all do here, so we want to support everything you do,” Hudson said. “You really give back to the community in an amazing way.”
For more information about Farmer’s Insurance or to get a quote, call 806-665-4428. For more information about the Tralee Crisis Center, what services they provide, or if you wish to donate, call 806-669-1131.
