About 200 attendees to the 2008  Risk Insurance Management Society Annual Conference & Exhibition at the San Diego Convention Center participated in the organization’s Community Service Day, which has become an annual part of the convention. (Photograph by David Braun)
When the Risk Insurance Management Society (RIMS) its Annual Conference & Exhibition the San Diego Convention Center April 27-May 1, they did more than just make an economic impact on the city, but gave back to the community.  Rims, whose annual convention attracts more than 10,000 attendees from around the globe, is a not-for-profit organization representing risk management professionals and advancing risk management practice.  RIMS made a $10,000 donation to the Monarch School, a San Diego school that provides accredited educational programs and a stable environment to homeless and at-risk youth.  The donation, which was made on behalf of the convention’s 400 guest speakers, in lieu of thank-you gifts typically purchased, was coordinated through the Convention Center’s Donations Program.  The program assists Convention Center clients wishing to make monetary donations or with donating usable, leftover event materials to local nonprofits.  Material donations have ranged anywhere from leftover food from events to backpacks, automotive supplies and carpeting.  “The generous donations of time and money by RIMS, their attendees and exhibitors are deeply appreciated by the San Diego community,” said Carol Wallace, President/CEO of the San Diego Convention Center.  “I am always touched by how willing our clients are to give back to their host community.”

As part of the volunteer efforts that have become a hallmark of the annual convention of the Risk Insurance Management Society (RIMS), the organization made a $10,000 donation to the Monarch School, which that provides accredited educational programs and a stable environment to homeless and at-risk youth. (left to right) Mary Roth, Executive Director, RIMS, Paula Kelly, Vice President, Monarch School Project, Sarita Fuentes, Principal and CEO,  Monarch School, and Janice Ochenkowski, President, RIMS. (Photograph by Felicia Messimer, RIMS Communications Associate)

In addition, RIMS held its Community Service Day, where attendees and exhibitors donate time to perform a community service project. In San Diego, the Community Service Day was coordinated with Volunteer San Diego and sponsored by by the AON Corporation, a global provider of risk management and workforce productivity solutions.  Nearly 200 RIMS volunteers spent the day renovating and beautifying the King Chavez Academy Charter School. RIMS efforts included building benches, planting trees, painting a mural, and creating a Zen-like garden for the children. “If there’s any city that we can give back to, a city that’s been so generous to RIMS, its attendees and exhibitors, it’s San Diego,” said Salvatore Chiarelli, Director of Meeting and Events for RIMS.

According to Chiarelli, RIMS first started their Community Service Day activity last year when the organization met at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.  “Our show is so big that it’s city-wide, that it sort of disrupts the city even though the cities have always been so hospitable,” he told facilitiesonline. “RIMS as an organization just decided that this is a golden opportunity to give back to the communities that host us, and make a bigger impact beyond the convention.”

The Annual Conference & Exhibition of the Risk Insurance Management Society was held at the San Diego Convention Center, April 27-May 1. The Convention Center’s Donations Program help facilitate the charitable and volunteer efforts of the organization.  “The generous donations of time and money by RIMS, their attendees and exhibitors are deeply appreciated by the San Diego community,” said Carol Wallace, president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center.  “I am always touched by how willing our clients are to give back to their host community.” (Photograph by the San Diego Convention Center)

The Community Service Day has now become an annual event for RIMS. Chiarelli will soon be setting plans in motion for the RIMS Community Service Day and related outreach projects for the 2009 convention, which takes place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. “At the end of the day, we have other events, such as golf outings and things of that nature, but I am finding that more and more attendees like to give back and make volunteer work part of their trip. It takes about eight months to plan. I am hoping other show organizers will be taking the time to plan these events because the response by our attendees and exhibitors has been tremendous.”

As part of the RIMS Community Service Day, volunteers renovated and beautified the King Chavez Academy Charter School. Efforts included building benches, planting trees, painting a mural, and creating a Zen-like garden for the children. (Photograph by Volunteer San Diego)