Teachers who signed up for insurance through the Teachers’ Insurance Plan of New Jersey protected more than just their cars – they protected the futures of some of the state’s brightest students by helping to raise thousands of dollars for the New Jersey school system.
Since the Quotes for Cash program’s inception in 2007, the insurance company has donated more than $50,000 to 62 educational communities.
The 2008-2009 school year saw $29,000 in donations – a 30 percent increase from the previous year.
The Quotes for Cash program provides grants to participating schools, for use in scholarships to graduating seniors and in grants to support exceptional teachers.
This year’s five scholarship recipients were selected from an application pool of 67 students – Stephanie Cooke of Lacey Township High School received a scholarship for M.I.T., Thomas Fitzpatrick of Morris Catholic High School will use the money for Scranton University, Lacey Higley of Toms River High School South will be attending the University of Maryland, Kathryn Huryk of Toms River High School will be at Barnard College, and Patrick Maguire of Lacey Township High School will use the money for Villanova University.
To participate, a school district signs up with the program to receive brochures and pamphlets for distribution to employees. For every employee that calls for a quote, the company donates $20 to the school district. If the employee buys a policy, they can choose for an additional $25 to go to either the employee or to the district.
"When we first introduced the Quotes for Cash program we were hoping to generate a win-win situation that benefited our partner educators around the state," said Marc V. Buro, president of the Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey. "I’m very pleased that we have been able to donate over $50,000 so far, and I hope that more schools and districts join so we can increase our impact on education in the Garden State."