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JOPLIN, Mo., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance announced today a long-term initiative called "Caring for Communities" to help with recovery efforts from devastating disasters through the dedication of resources, assets, expertise and financial commitments.  Rebuilding Joplin is the inaugural "Caring for Communities" commitment in the aftermath of the devastating F5 tornado that took 161 lives and damaged or destroyed 8,000 homes and businesses in the area.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080605/LATH062)

Farmers has joined forces with Rebuild Joplin (an extension of the St. Bernard Project), a local 501c3 focused on the recovery efforts in Joplin.  Rebuild Joplin works tirelessly to help the community recover since the storm nearly two years ago.  Farmers Insurance is recommitting support in the community with additional assets, knowledge and employees.  This includes the relocation of Farmers executive, Nan Treul, who raised her hand to spearhead Joplin rebuilding efforts from within the community. With over 24 years of customer and service experience working in Operations and Marketing, catastrophe training and deployment, Nan will serve as the on-the-ground expert to ensure that the proper resources are tapped to help expedite the amount of time it will take to rebuild Joplin and get the community back on its feet.

"For 85 years, Farmers has been dedicated to revitalizing and restoring communities and 'Caring for Communities' is a natural evolution of that commitment," said Nan Treul, Head of Specialty Service Operations.  "We are proud to help the people of Joplin complete the path to their recovery, to renew the focus and commitment beyond the moment of disaster and to provide our full resources to create a model for recovery and revitalization." 

Farmers is partnering with Rebuild Joplin in the following ways:

• The entire Farmers employee base is encouraged to donate company time and energy to volunteering in Joplin, culminating in more than 8,500 volunteer hours.  Employees will contribute towards rebuilding efforts and be called upon to leverage their deep first-hand experience with disaster response to improve the recovery efforts of Rebuild Joplin and others.
• A senior level executive is moving to Joplin to oversee and expedite the rebuilding efforts and "Caring for Communities" initiative and to ensure the full efforts of the organization are applied to the area in order to make the biggest impact on recovery.
• Farmers is contributing financially to help offset some of the hard costs associated with rebuilding and recovery.

"Farmers cared for this community in the immediate aftermath of the storm by providing top notch service to its customers, providing meals, Wi-Fi, charging stations, ice and stuffed animals for kids who had lost everything," said Jerrod Hogan, Founder and Executive Director, Rebuild Joplin.  "Today they continue to care for our community by supporting Rebuild Joplin as we work to cross the finish line.  In the last leg of the residential recovery marathon, Farmers is not only giving us a boost of energy, but they have promised to run the last leg with us.  We could not have asked for a better partner at a better time."

To ensure Farmers work in Joplin will apply to other communities in need when disaster strikes, Farmers will document the process, develop key learnings and best practices to create a Disaster Relief Recovery Plan.  This best step-by-step recovery playbook will serve other communities in the aftermath of future disasters to help accelerate their recovery process.

Visit www.Farmers.com to learn more about the "Caring for Communities" and to learn how you can help rebuild Joplin. 

About Rebuild Joplin
Rebuild Joplin was founded in response to the tornado that tore through Joplin on May 22, 2011. Rebuild Joplin began as a website to coordinate donations and volunteers, then evolved into serving the immediate needs of recovery, eventually shifting to the repair and rebuilding of homes directly affected by the tornado. Rebuild Joplin has rebuilt 71 homes to date, and aims to ensure that all remaining families that were storm-displaced are returned to a safe and secure homes by 2015.

About Farmers Insurance

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is a leading U.S. insurer of automobiles, homes and small businesses and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 24,000 employees.

Farmers is a trade name and may refer to Farmers Group, Inc, or the Farmers Exchanges, as the case may be. The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange), including their subsidiaries and affiliates, owned by their policyholders, and managed by Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information about Farmers, visit its Web site at www.farmers.com or at www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

SOURCE Farmers Insurance