The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) New York division awarded grants to eight not-for-profit organizations at its year 2010 benefit dinner.

The IICF New York Division said it chose organizations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that focus on education, children at risk, the environment, and disaster preparedness.

The grant recipients are Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Boys Hope Girls Hope of New York; Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation; Community Mainstreaming Associates; Covenant House of New Jersey; Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; Starlight Children’s Foundation NY•NJ•CT; and World Cares Center.

Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co., was honored with the IICF 2010 ‘Double I’ award for influence in the industry and impact in the community, IICF said.

More than 800 insurance industry representatives attended the benefit dinner, with dinner ticket sales exceeding $1.1 million, according to the foundation.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of IICF,” David Brinkman, chairman of the IICF New York Division board and executive managing director of Aon Benfield, said in a statement. “We are only starting to show the impact of our work.”

Since its beginning in 1994, IICF said it gave more than $16 million in grants to charities and 140,000 volunteer hours to community nonprofit organizations. The IICF is completely directed and funded by the insurance industry.