California

Putting Safety First

When an opportunity to make a difference presented itself to Agent Laureen Yungmeyer, she jumped at the chance to get out and help the community of Bethel Island, California.

Yungmeyer’s Agency is in Santa Cruz, California and has several policyholders on Bethel Island, nearly 100 miles away. In the rural community of Bethel Island, a large percentage of the population is senior citizens - many of whom care for or are raising their grandchildren.

In the small community, the annual safety fair is a premier event for families of all kinds to come together, learn and celebrate. Initially, a State Farm policyholder who lives on Bethel Island called Yungmeyer’s agency looking for information on topics like fire, boat and dog safety. After speaking with her, Yungmeyer knew she could do more.

“I was able to send our marketing manager, Marissa Ley, up to Bethel Island for the day, and give my agency representation with a booth at the event,” Yungmeyer shared. “Our booth had information and safety tips for things like fire and flood prevention and auto safety – especially teen driver safety.”

The safety fair was focused on children and seniors, and also featured a coat drive and a toy drive for the upcoming holiday season. With something for everyone, Yungmeyer and Ley designed an interactive booth with a coloring station featuring books and crayons for kids, pedometers for all who visited and also handed out free smoke detectors.

“The fire department was right next door, so they came over and did a little demonstration about the best place to position your smoke detector and educated attendees about some new smoke detector standards,” Ley said.

Yungmeyer and Ley agree that the best thing about the event was that it was free to the entire community. Sponsored by AT & T, Bethel Island Municipal Advisory Council, the Bethel Island Chamber of Commerce, and Bethel Island Municipal Improvement District, the event gave everyone access to safety information, along with free food, music and games.

As a parent, Ley said the other benefit was seeing the impact that the fair had on her own daughter who also attended that day. “She’s very understanding of how some folks need extra help,” Ley said. “Being at an event like this gives her a wider view of what families can look like and how important lending a hand can be.”

Since Yungmeyer opened her agency in February 2007, families and community involvement have been the cornerstone of her business – even when they are hundreds of miles away.