While American Fidelity Assurance Company Colleagues strive to provide the best service possible to our Customers, we also don't forget that we're part of a great community. The American Fidelity Foundation expanded its efforts in community philanthropy. Being a company with heart is part of AFA's culture, and our Colleagues make sure we don't miss a beat.

Top row from left: American Fidelity Colleagues at the Heart Walk; volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma; and reading to a class at Buchanan Elementary. Bottom row from left: The company's Corporate Challenge team poses; a Colleague volunteers for Possibilities, Inc.; and another donates canned goods at the office.

At AFA, our Colleagues are known for their generosity. Through their support, with backing from the AF Foundation, we are among the elite companies in the Oklahoma City area in terms of giving back to the community through the United Way, Allied Arts and other organizations. Donations for both organizations come directly from Colleagues and are matched by the Foundation. Colleagues also participate monthly in helping each other's favorite non-profit organizations by contributing to Charity Jeans Day Drives. The Regional Food Bank is another beneficiary of Colleagues' generosity, with more than 1,500 pounds of food donated in 2008.

In 2007, the AF Foundation donated more than $700,000 to local non-profit organizations including Ballet Oklahoma, Last Frontier Council of Boy Scouts, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation and many others.

Colleagues also give generously of their time, volunteering during a variety of company-sponsored events. Activities included participation in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk, assembling backpacks full of donated supplies for children in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, working at the Regional Food Bank and other volunteer opportunities. About 250 Colleagues, their friends and family members joined Team AFA for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and another 30 passed out water and encouragement to runners in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. Many Colleagues also participate in one of the five blood drives held on site each year.

In keeping with our mission to improve educational opportunities for youth in our community, AFA continued our partnership with Buchanan Elementary School. We sponsor the school's year-end party for students who read at least 100 books. About 40 Colleagues serve as tutors, and several executives take time from their schedules to read to students at Buchanan. We provide a holiday party for tutors and their students and help fund curriculum-based field trips. Colleagues donated a record number of school supplies to help low-income children in the area. AFA also partners with KFOR News Channel 4 to sponsor WeatherSchool, a program that teaches schoolchildren about weather and storm safety.

In honor of the late John Rex, two Colleagues' children are awarded renewable John Rex Memorial Scholarships each spring. The scholarship program is now in its second year.

This spirit of community and family help make American Fidelity one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America, an accomplishment recognized for the sixth straight year by FORTUNE magazine.