Every year the Rotary Club of Picayune has a Christmas Basket Program, which gives residents in need “a Christmas meal and more,” John Pigott, Allstate agency owner and Rotary Club of Picayune member, said. However, the cost to conduct the program can be expensive.
Usually the Rotary Club pays out-of-pocket to provide the baskets, but this year, the Allstate Foundation awarded Pigott a $1,000 grant to help the Christmas Basket Program.
“The Agency Hands in the Community Award celebrates the spirit of service. Commitment to our communities is a natural extension of what we do every day—protecting people and making their lives more secure,” Allison May, Allstate Corporate Relations Division Manager said in a press release. “With the support from the Allstate Foundation, Pigott and the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International are making our hometown a better, safer place to live.”
To be eligible for the grant, the release states that Allstate agency owners must volunteer, mentor or lead a non-profit of their choice.
This grant will help Pigott and the Rotary Club of Picayune fill 100 to 200 baskets for people in need this holiday season. In the past, Pigott said the program distributed five tons of food in the baskets to needy families and individuals in Picayune.
“Any way I can give back to my community I am more than happy to,” Pigott said. “It’s just part of paying my civic dues for being part of this city and for all that it has given to me over the years.”
Christian Care Ministries helps identify families in need of the Christmas baskets and relays the names to the Rotary Club of Picayune every year, Pigott said.
Pigott, who has been a member of the Rotary Club since 1978, said ever since he could remember, the club has used this program to help those in need around the community, and it usually is the biggest program annually.
Because of this grant from the Allstate Foundation and because of Pigott’s generosity, hundreds of Picayune residents in need will be able to share a warm meal and more with their loved ones during the holidays.