On a recent spring day in early March, five Southern Farm Bureau® Life Insurance Company (SFBLIC) employees arrived early in the morning at Stewpot Ministries, ready to spend a “Farm Hands” day organizing and cleaning the pantry and clothing closet. In attendance was long-time employee Jewel Patterson, who, in a few weeks, would be retiring after 36 years of service with the company. “It’s amazing how we can help the community… don’t think about it, just do it,” she said at the end of the day, encouraging her co-workers to use their volunteer days in our local community.
In the days following, employees were on site at the JPS Reading Fair to serve as judges, working at the First Ridgeland Food Pantry and caring for animals at CARA.
March wasn’t anything special. Year-round, you’ll find groups of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance employees, interns, management, and executives proudly wearing their “Farm Hands Day” t-shirts and giving back to the local community. In 2023, 370 employees volunteered their time on 26 community projects, performing a range of activities from physical labor to coaching and mentoring, decorating, organizing, cleaning, and even helping host a Flight to the North Pole for children in the area.
Community involvement is just one way that Southern Farm Bureau employees have the chance to give back. The company also organizes an “SFB Cares” campaign that allows employees to nominate and select a list of organizations and charities in the area that employees can donate to from their paychecks.
SFBLIC employees have raised and donated over $135,000 through this program over the past year, money that directly impacted families and community members in central Mississippi. Even the annual company picnic centers around giving back, as May becomes “Make-a-Wish May” each year. The company hosts a variety of fundraising events, including an ice cream social, silent auction, watercolor classes, and bunco, cornhole, and ping pong tournaments. The month culminates in a company wide luncheon where employees celebrate the Make-a-Wish recipient and see a child’s wish granted.
In addition to these planned events, Southern Farm Bureau Life employees are known to step up and show up in a disaster. When tornadoes devastated the tiny town of Rolling Fork in April of 2023, the SFB Cooking Team showed up, and were onsite every day for six days, serving over 1500 meals to families affected by those storms.
Why focus so much on supporting the community? Billy Sims, retired Senior Vice President of Policy Administration and longtime HR leader, used to say the secret to the culture at SFBLIC was to “hire good people, and treat them like family.” The company’s mission statement even references family – it is “to be the life insurance company of choice for our Farm Bureau family,” with a promise that SFBLIC will be “Your Friends for Life.” The company’s core values of service, respect, integrity, accountability, teamwork, and courage speak to a culture that supports treating the community as part of the Farm Bureau Family.
Southern Farm Bureau Life has exhibited a decades-long commitment to service in the community. Stan Dickens, Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary, highlights this history. “We were founded over 75 years ago to serve Farm Bureau families, and we take great pride in the outstanding service we provide daily to our Policyholders and Agents.”
He adds, “How can we overlook the service needs in our community? I got far more out of my recent Farm Hands volunteer day at Hope Hollow Ministries than I put in.” The company’s low turnover and high employee engagement measures prove the impact that culture has on employees and translates into better service and products for Farm Bureau Policyholders and Agents. SFBLIC consistently builds on that culture with investments in employee development and career growth, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities to engage with other employees through team building activities, resource groups, and company events and celebrations.
At the end of March, employees gathered in the central atrium overlooking the lobby in a beloved tradition to celebrate, cheer and wish Ms. Jewel well as she walked down the central stairwell one last time on her retirement day. Tears were shed and hugs were given as she said goodbye to her Farm Bureau Family. She won’t be a stranger, though – her former co-workers will still find her out and about in the community, continuing the tradition of service. They’ll be Friends for Life, too.
