Published on September 1, 2017
Sponsor Profile
Every day, Cowan Benefit Services (a division of Hub International Limited) helps companies all across Middle Tennessee take care of their employees as a benefits broker. And every day, as he walks the halls of Cowan Benefit between phone calls and meetings, President Matt Cowan passes by a series of colorful posters with special significance.
What better way to support our nonprofit clients than to support them in their ventures? We see it as a partnership and think that’s a good thing to do.
What makes them so special? Well, for one thing, each is covered with autographs from top to bottom: the signatures of Amy Grant, Vince Gill, John Oates, Hunter Hayes, Kim Carnes, Lori McKenna and many, many other songwriters – more than 100 on each poster.
They’re what you would call showpieces, even collectors’ items. But the incredible talent represented on each poster is not the only significance. They represent Cowan Benefit’s years of supporting Alive Hospice as a sponsor of Alive At The Bluebird, a monthlong fundraiser for Alive Hospice. It’s a concert series that takes place each January at the world-famous Bluebird Cafe with more than 130 hit songwriters helping to raise money for Alive over the course of the month. It’s also the longest-running concert series in the Bluebird’s 35-year history.
“We started (as a sponsor of Alive At The Bluebird) because Alive is a client of ours. Especially with our nonprofit clients, we see what we do with them as a partnership,” Cowan said. “What better way to support our nonprofit clients than to support them in their ventures? We see it as a partnership and think that’s a good thing to do.”
It’s part of the culture Cowan Benefit has worked to develop over the years.
“As you come in the front door, we have all of our Alive Hospice posters right there up front,” Cowan said. “Our employees see that every day as they walk in. They visually say, ‘It’s not just about the business. It’s about community and giving back.’ That’s a lot of who we are.”
Cowan Benefit came onboard as a sponsor of Alive At The Bluebird in 2013 and has come back every year since then. We started the Bluebird In The Boro concert series at the Mayday Brewery, and Cowan followed us there, too, once again showing its support for the care we provide… and those who receive it.
Each dollar that Alive Hospice receives through Alive At The Bluebird and Bluebird In The Boro, whether underwriting support from sponsors like Cowan Benefit, ticket sales, or merchandise sales, goes directly to the mission-based services we provide: charity hospice care, grief counseling for adults and children, and community education about the end of life.
Matt Cowan knows what a difference Alive Hospice makes for two reasons. He knows Alive as a client, of course, and as someone who has been touched by this organization in a personal way. His mother and stepmother both received care from Alive in 1993. They both died at their homes only hours apart on the very same day. What Matt Cowan remembers is the relief that Alive Hospice brought into their lives and homes.
“They really do love and take care of the people they’re working with,” Cowan said.
That’s what Cowan Benefit makes possible for others as a sponsor of Alive At The Bluebird and Bluebird In The Boro. There is no greater gift.