IFG’s focus on Wellness came into the year by creating an employee led Wellness Committee. The Wellness Committee met once-a-month to collaborate and create a fun, interactive program to engage employees and help them focus on their physical, mental, spiritual, occupational and financial well-being. Thank you to the members of the committee for your hard work throughout the year! Wellness Committee Members: Cristi Brooks (Sales Office), Christian Burgess (Laclede), Heather Bashaw (Grangeville), Christie Stockstill (Lumberton), Jason Nail (Lewiston), Zeke Barajas (Moyie), Holly Shreffler (Sales Office), Mark Higbee (Athol) and Cheryl Jeffords (Communications).
After one full year of promoting the Essential Six discount (with over 90 employees who earned the $50 per month off their insurance premiums) we added a component to include spouses who can earn and additional $25 per month off their insurance for completing certain activities. It has been a popular program for spouses and we hope to see further participation in both programs.
In Spring 2021 we had 31 employees that participated in the Spring Dash that was held virtually by United Way. IFG’s team placed 4th overall and the IFG participant with the best time/distance ratio was Zeke Barajas of Moyie, who also came in 2nd place overall.
Between April and June, IFG hosted onsite Dental clinics with a mobile dental clinic ran by Jet Dental. We had 83 employees participate in the events and had positive feedback that the quality of the work was good, and services were fast and friendly. 
During Open Enrollment this year, IFG rolled out Omada, which is a program that adapts to a member’s unique condition as they evolve. Specialized coaching, tailored curriculum, feedback based on personal health data and a condition-specific peer-group are offered. A tobacco cessation program called the ExProgram, was also rolled out. Free access to coaching, cessation products and more to help quit the use of tobacco and nicotine products are offered to employees and spouses.
Summer of 2021 we rooted for our USA Olympics Athletes in the 2021 Summer Olympics as our IFG employees took on daily challenges towards winning mill and Company level Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes. The company level winners were Amber Gilmore of Grangeville took the Gold. Zach Desoto of St. Regis took the Silver, and Dakota Portanova of Athol took the Bronze.
In the Fall, IFG’s attention turned to the Biometrics Health Fair for September. Employees have participated in our biometrics events for three years now to learn about their health “numbers,” and what they mean with resources available through IFG.
In the month of October, the employees of IFG showed their support for the battle against Breast Cancer by wearing our Breast Cancer awareness shirts and promoting a healthy life style which can help prevent the disease. Extra shirts were donated to Kootenai Health’s Breast Cancer clinic to be given to patients and family members of patients diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
In November, we took on the battle to help fight the stigma against Mental Health with our MOVEember Challenge, which encouraged employees to get out and move 60 miles in the month by walking, riding bike or running which was a representation of the 60 men that we lose each hour to mental health. IFG had a total of 122 employees who reached the 60 mile goal, walking a combined total of 17,159 miles! Shout out to all of the employees who participated in the challenge as well as the drawing winners at each site!
Lastly, the year closed out in the Launch of the Dave Ramsey SmartDollar Program, which is a focus on Financial Well-Being. With the SmartDollar program, you’ll get, online tools to help with budgeting, savings, and knocking out debt, a proven Step-by-Step Plan called the “Baby Steps” program (7-steps towards getting out of debt, investing and building wealth and giving generously). All employees and spouses are eligible to participate in the Ramsey SmartDollar program and IFG encourages each employee to create an account and see where they’re at in the process!
Looking forward to 2022, we continue to encourage employees to take part in the wellness program in whatever capacity that is best for you and your family! Our hope is that your health and well-being are a top priority for you and the services and programs that we offer to you are taken advantage of. Thank you to everyone who participated in the program!
