Nine Ponte Vedra Beach Allstate employees and agency owners recently supported the Friends of the GTM Research Reserve by building gabions — metal cages filled with recycled oyster shells — that will be used to build an artificial shoreline at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
The program, which is part of Allstate’s annual Bring Out the Good Month, encourages Allstate employees to volunteer for, and donate to, the causes they care about most in their local communities.
“We recognize how each of us gives back may be different, but our mission is the same — to bring out the good,” said Shatea Rodman, volunteer project coordinator for Allstate. “Bring Out the Good Month has special meaning for Allstate employees. We proudly take this time to celebrate the good we do every day to help make our communities stronger, safer and more beautiful.”
The recycled oyster shells used in the project came from local restaurants and were quarantined for a year before being used to build the gabions. Gabions help reduce erosion and provide the right habitat for fish and other sea life. When used in the wild, gabions serve as an alternative to sea walls. Allstate volunteers constructed the metal cages and then carefully packed them with the oyster shells.
During the 2018 Bring Out the Good Month in April, Allstate employees completed more than 1,000 volunteer projects and raised more than $7 million. In 2017, Allstate employees and agency owners donated more than 260,000 volunteer hours through the yearlong Allstate Helping Hands volunteer program and supported more than 8,800 nonprofits through Allstate’s annual Giving Campaign.
