Client Service September 30, 2020

Advisers Giving Back: Stephanie Hunt

Stephanie Hunt at Atlanta Retirement Partners is closely involved with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia; she particularly enjoys donating her time to the Food 2 Kids program.
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Art by Giulia Tomai


Some of the subjects of PLANADVISER’s Advisers Giving Back profile series have started their service efforts recently.

At LeafHouse Financial, based in Austin, Texas, the latest charitable effort started as a direct response to the coronavirus pandemic and took the form of a charity fitness challenge in July involving the Peloton indoor cycling platform. In the case of Sentinel Benefits and Financial Group, based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, it was the unexpected passing of John Carnevale in April 2016 that helped to further formalize Sentinel’s commitment to giving back through the SentinelCares program.

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Stephanie Hunt, a retirement plan consultant with Atlanta Retirement Partners, says giving back has always been a part of her life.

“You know, I’ve always felt that it has been important to give back—and more so with your time than with your money,” Hunt says. “Of course, the money matters and that is important, but my work with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia has been all about giving my time and energy. In my experience, this is based in my Christian faith, though that’s obviously not going to be the same for everyone who is motivated to give. I think it has to do with how you are brought up. I was taught how important it is to give back from a young age, and to understand that you can have nothing and still give something back—your time and energy.”

Hunt says there is a strong community of giving in the Athens, Georgia, area, where she is based, which inspires her and others at Atlanta Retirement Partners, including David Griffin, the firm’s founder.

“Here in Athens, we have the University of Georgia [UGA],” she explains. “There are over 250 nonprofits that come out of connections with the school and the town. I think this stems from all the passionate people who graduate and say that they love Athens and that they want to stay and work to make it an even better place. So, that means there is a lot of opportunity to give back in our community.”

Hunt says she was drawn to service at the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia because of how fundamentally important food and shelter are to a dignified human life.

“We started simply by donating money, but they actually reached out and asked if I wouldn’t be willing to give time as well,” Hunt recalls. “I agreed, and that’s where I got connected with the Food 2 Kids program, which is a civic service effort operated within the food bank.”

The main goal of the program is to provide weekend meal bags to students who are identified by their teachers or guidance calendars as being food insecure, so the children have access to healthy food when they’re away from school. For Hunt, serving with the organization mainly involves being a driver and delivering the meal bags to schools throughout the region.

“It takes your physical energy and effort, and it’s just so amazing to get to see the kids and make sure they have full bellies so they can be better students,” Hunt says. “I’ve noticed that, over time, the food bank has been able to put more and more food in the bags, and that’s so great, but honestly they get heavy! You might have to lug in 25 or 50 or 100 bags for a school, depending on the kids who are there.”

Reflecting on the current moment, Hunt says the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some disruption, certainly, but it has also freed up more time for her to serve.

“The schools really had to step up, because they know better than anyone how important the school is for food security for many children,” Hunt says. “That’s something so many people overlook—how important school is from a nutritional perspective as well as an educational perspective. It is eye-opening to see that food insecurity is present everywhere. Even in a middle class neighborhood, you could have a neighbor next door to you that can’t put enough food on the table. You just never know.”

Hunt says she is concerned for the food bank because it has been unable to do its normal fall charity event, known as Will Rock 4 Food.

“[The food bank] normally brings in a band and has a big raffle and everything,” Hunt explains. “The event can raise more than $30,000 or $40,000 in one evening, which represents a significant part of the annual budget. I’m concerned about what this might mean for the food security programs, so we are trying to get the word out about still providing that support.”

Asked for advice about how to start giving back, Hunt’s answer is pretty simple.  

“My advice is just to get started, jump on Google and find a cause you are passionate about,” she recommends. “You won’t regret it, and it will serve to make the world a better place. A lot of the time you have to just step out of yourself and decide it is important to get involved personally. Also, be willing to be a volunteer and do what is asked of you—without trying to run the program.”

Client Service September 23, 2020

Advisers Giving Back: Renee Scherzer at 401K Resources

Two causes that are close to Renee Scherzer’s heart are helping with animal rescues and supporting children in crisis—though her giving efforts expand into many other areas.
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Art by John Cuneo


The PLANADVISER Advisers Giving Back profile series offers an inspiring view of the charitable and philanthropic work undertaken by some of the leading advisers in the retirement planning industry.

Some of our profile subjects have been focused on a single cause, such as Brad Arends’ ongoing efforts to bring more affordable and local health care back to Albert Lea, Minnesota, or Jason Chepenik’s work creating the Smarter Tomorrow Foundation, which is on a long-term mission “to give every kid from every community a fair shot at a strong financial future.”

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For her part, Renee Scherzer, principal at 401K Resources in Scottsdale, Arizona, is involved in a wide variety of important causes, from anti-bullying advocacy to serving children in crisis and supporting local animal rescue efforts. She tells PLANADVISER that giving back has long been an important part of her identity, though she was not always comfortable talking about it in professional settings.

“Giving back is a part of who I am and where I come from,” Scherzer says, noting that she grew up in a crisis situation and, for that reason, can strongly identify with children, families and animals who are in need. “What I’ve learned as I’ve grown in this business and gotten to know my clients is that they want to work with people who care about giving back to the community.”

Early on, Scherzer says, she did not know how to talk about her giving efforts or how to integrate giving back into her business identity. That has since changed.  

“It took time for me to realize that this should be a part of my professional life and that I should talk to my clients and colleagues about the work I’m doing to give back,” she says. “Today, this is a big part of my relationship with my colleagues and clients, and I am so glad that is the case.”

These days, Scherzer says she gets text messages from clients over the weekends, telling her they are out rescuing animals or doing other things to give back. She has had clients show up to meetings with boxes of blankets and clothing for the homeless, or with food and dog beds for the local shelter.

“The thing to realize is that everyone wants to give and they really appreciate when someone takes the lead and gives them an opportunity to get involved themselves,” Scherzer says.

These days, Scherzer’s giving work extends across an array of well-deserving organizations, including her local animal rescue organization and an organization that is dedicated to helping children in crisis. She helps these groups by doing everything from driving to the grocery store to pick up food in bulk to helping organize clothing drives and fundraisers. Once, when a charity kickball game got rained out, she invited everyone to her own home instead to have a karaoke night—which met and exceed its fundraising goals.

“Some of my favorite giving opportunities have involved serving families ahead of the winter holidays,” Scherzer says. “One year, we literally filled two truckloads of gifts and walked down the streets of an underprivileged neighborhood with a local advocate, knocking on doors and giving out bags of toys. Another time, we helped to furnish and fill an apartment for a family of seven that had answered an ad my friend had posted, offering a free couch on Craigslist. You never know where you are going to be needed.”

Scherzer says anti-bullying efforts have also been important to her charitable efforts.

“Speaking at events against bullying is a big part of my story as well,” Scherzer says. “I’ll tell you that story. My middle child was bullied terribly in the fourth grade. Frankly, we were unable to get through the issue with the school and the other parents. It was really frustrating, and in the end we decided to leave that school, and we are blessed to have been able to do that. In the end, it was so rewarding for us to see how our efforts to be vocal about this critical issue attracted other people who are going through similar things—and there are so many. Eventually, I was invited to go on podcasts and speak with big groups of people going through similar challenges.”

Scherzer says she got “amazing feedback” during that process from both clients and colleagues.

“It was so meaningful for me and my daughter to share our story,” Scherzer says. “It helped other people to relate to us and helped us to feel less alone in facing what is actually a very common challenge.”

Echoing the other advisers interviewed for the giving back series, Scherzer says the impact of community engagement on her client relationships has been tremendously positive.

“One thing one of my colleagues once told me is that clients want to know that you are the same person when you leave the office as you are when you are interacting with them—that authenticity is so incredibly important,” she says. “When they get a sense that you care about your community, it creates a different level of respect and collaboration. I do think this is a big part of why I don’t lose clients—why I’ve had some clients for over 20 years. It’s a different level of relationship that you can get to.”

Scherzer says it takes the same skills to be a successful adviser as it does to be successful helping other people.

“When you make it known what you are all about and what you do, people trust you and they come to you to get involved,” Scherzer says. “I had another colleague come up to me on the way out of church one time, and he asked if I was still involved in serving children in crisis. I said, ‘Yes,’ and he said he needed to do another donation for the year, and he literally wrote out a $5,000 check right there in the parking lot. That’s the kind of giving from others that we can all inspire, given our respected position in the community as advisers.”

Scherzer says if she could share one tip with advisers considering getting involved, it would be to let them know that it is “OK to be inconvenienced once in a while.”

“Everyone is worried about spreading themselves too thin—especially advisers who are already so busy and so involved in so many things,” she says. “To these people, I encourage them to welcome the inconvenience and just try something. Once you see what you gain from getting involved, you immediately stop looking at it as an inconvenience. You have to find where your passion is and where your skills are most needed. Just start with a Google search or asking people you know who are involved already and ask how you can help them. Just look at what your skill sets are and what you can offer to the community.”

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