Petaluma's Arrow Benefits Group wins Community Philanthropy Award

Giving back to the community where employees live and work is a hallmark of the Arrow Benefits Group. Arrow supported a number of nonprofits by contributing $100,000 in 2016. Many of the company’s 32 employees donate their time as volunteers, and managers and the ownership team have created innovative wellness programs while becoming personally involved.

Arrow’s leaders are actively engaged in a variety of local projects in and around Petaluma, including portions of southern Sonoma County and northern Marin County.

For example, Principal Andrew McNeil won a Golden Heart Award from the Petaluma Healthcare District for his work with them, and for creating the Arrow Wellness initiative that includes providing ongoing CPR, first aid certification classes and wellness training free to the public. Arrow is now in the process of developing a program to place Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in local banks in cooperation with company clients.

CEO Jordan Shields won the North Bay Children’s Center’s leadership award recognizing an outstanding volunteer leader who brings support and a deep commitment that helps drive forward the mission of NBCC. “Simply put, we believe in supporting our community by focusing on the needs of children, families and community health,” he said.

Principal Mariah Shields is a co-founder and chair of the “100 People Who Care,” a group of like-minded, philanthropic individuals dedicated to enhancing the support and awareness of local nonprofits. This organization picks local charities and people in need and gathers area businesses to help support them. In addition, she has volunteered for more than 10 years at the Giant Steps Therapeutic Riding Center, enriching the lives of children based on the belief that caring for and riding horses can be a powerful tool for healing individuals with physical, emotional and developmental challenges.

Principal Stephen McNeil serves as a volunteer with Mentor Me, a 15-year old nonprofit that helps at-risk youth, ages five to 17, achieve their best in school and their highest potential in life by providing them with one-on-one, long-term adult mentors. Mentor Me has a presence in 16 Petaluma schools and at the Hamilton K-8 elementary school in Novato – with 392 active school-based mentorships in place, and another 83 youth on a waitlist.

Over the years, Arrow has made major donations to the capital campaigns of United Cerebral Palsy, the North Bay Children’s Center, Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), Social Advocates for Youth (SAY), Big Brothers Big Sisters and numerous other charitable organizations.