Hurricane relief trip planned for Travelex Insurance Services

January 3, 2019 (OMAHA, NE) – Instead of spending the annual company incentive trip relaxing, Travelex Insurance Services’ staff and partners will spend time supporting hurricane recovery efforts by volunteering in Puerto Rico this January. It is the first corporate mission trip of its kind for the travel insurance company

 

A group of 50 Travelex staff and partners will spend two full days helping Puerto Ricans recover from what The New York Times called the deadliest storm in over 100 years to hit the islands. Over a year since Hurricane Maria, many locals are still living in uninhabitable conditions, especially those in rural and impoverished communities.

 

Travel industry partners participating in the trip include underwriter and claims administrator Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company, Australia-based travel insurance provider and owner Cover-More, and travel assistance provider On Call International.

 

One area in need of assistance is the rural, mountain community of Bartolo, Lares, which is located about 78 miles southwest of San Juan. Planned volunteer service includespainting temporary housing to shelter displaced families and restoring individual family homes. The group will also help reforest historic Cueva Maria de La Cruz park with avariety of native trees in danger of extinction as a result of hurricanes Maria and Irma.

 

Travelex Insurance Services’ President & CEO Michael J. Ambrose said: “Working in the travel industry, we decided to reinvest our good fortune in a more meaningful way while giving our staff and partners an opportunity to experience the growing trend of volunteer tourism. We chose the popular tourist destination of Puerto Rico after realizing that even after a year of recovery, there were still many people in desperate need. Using Travelex’s annual incentive trip to make a difference became an obvious choice that I hope to continue.”

 

Working on the ground in Puerto Rico is San Agustin Relief and Recovery Mission’s Dr. Maria R. Procaccino, Ed.D, who has coordinated with Travelex for six months in preparation for the mission trip.

 

“I felt happy and grateful when I got the call from Kim Burgo, Vice President of Disaster Operations, Catholic Charities USA, asking for service projects for the group from Travelex Insurance Services,” Procaccino said. “We expect to get many things accomplished in a short time with their help.”

 

Travelex is still accepting donations via a Go Fund Me campaign to help purchase supplies needed for the service projects as well as purchase local business gift cards to provide families in need of daily staples.

 

Fox World Travel’s James “Keller” Keller made the travel arrangements.

 

 

About Travelex Insurance

Travelex Insurance Services is a leading travel insurance provider in the United States with over 55 years combined industry expertise of helping people dream, explore and travel with confidence. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Travelex Insurance Services was founded in 1996 when the Travelex Group purchased Mutual of Omaha Companies’ travel insurance distribution services. Travelex Insurance Services became a subsidiary of Cover-More Holdings USA, Inc. in November 2016, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group Limited (“ZIG”), headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Travel insurance plans are underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company. Travelex Insurance Services delivers a wide range of travel protection plans through travel agencies, tour operators and at travelexinsurance.com.

 

About San Agustin Relief and Recovery Mission

San Agustin Relief and Recovery Mission is part of a coalition of community-based organizations known as the Mutual Support Center. For the past months after Hurricane Maria, the Mutual Support Center has focused its best efforts on the homeless and landless social segment, which has had special medical and economic survival needs. The urgency for shelter and assurance of a safe home has been the priority for the coalition.