Odom Will Share How Life Insurance Benefited His Family
Arlington, VA – June 30, 2011 – This September, Los Angeles Lakers forward and star of the hit show Khloé & Lamar, Lamar Odom will serve as the national spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month. The nonprofit LIFE Foundation, which secured Odom’s participation, coordinates the industry-wide campaign in response to concern about the growing number of Americans who lack life insurance protection. Today, 30 percent of US households have no life insurance, according to the industry research group LIMRA.
Lamar Odom’s Life Insurance Story
Odom was raised in Queens, New York in a single-parent household. Even though Odom’s mother, Cathy, earned a modest income working as a corrections officer, she sent him to Catholic school because of concerns about the public schools in the South Jamaica neighborhood where they lived. When Odom was 12, his mother died of colon cancer. Because she had life insurance, Odom was able to continue his Catholic school education.
When Odom graduated high school at 18, life insurance again made a difference in his life. Odom was considered to be one of the best young basketball players in the country, but knew it would be best for his career if he did not pursue a professional career right away. Because he and his grandmother, who raised him through high school, were financially stable, Odom did not need to immediately earn a paycheck and attended college for several years prior to turning pro.
“I’m sure my mom didn’t think she would die at age 35, but that didn’t stop her from doing the responsible thing and buying life insurance,” said Odom. “Her wise decision gave me the foundation to move on in my life, and played a big role in making me the person I am today. When I began my pro career, one of the first things I did was buy life insurance to make sure that my loved ones would always be taken care of. I’m proud to be working with the LIFE Foundation to share my story and to hopefully get more Americans to do the kind of smart planning that my mom did.”