Celebrating the great work that you do and giving to others are important aspects of the California Casualty culture. We believe in giving back through important community impact initiatives and charity that makes a real difference.
Garage Makeover winner Kyle A.
We’ve been thanking first responders over the years for the hard work they do protecting our communities, with the Work Hard/Play Hard Sweepstakes.
In December, Pennsylvania firefighter Kyle A. was the recipient of a $7,500 Garage Makeover from California Casualty. Kyle, who is also a full-time 911 dispatcher, was thrilled. “My wife and I bought our forever home last year and we just purchased a storage shed so that we could clean out the garage to make it more useful,” he said.
He added that while he doesn’t seek recognition for what he does, he is grateful that California Casualty recognizes the hard work done by first responders.
While we are talking about firefighters, California Casualty wants to congratulate San Bernardino County, California, Fire EMT Kyle A. (a different K.A.). He is the grand prize winner of the California State Firefighters’ Association’s photo contest, sponsored by California Casualty.
Kyle receiving his award from Field Marketing Manager, Charlene Rowens
The contest invited first responders to submit images highlighting the bravery and camaraderie of the men and women in the fire service and the explosive situations they encounter in their daily shifts. Kyle’s photo of Los Angeles firefighters battling a commercial auto parts blaze was a quarterly winner in the contest and will be featured on an upcoming cover of The California Fire Service magazine. Quarterly winners received cash prizes from California Casualty for their efforts.
You can see some of the amazing and outstanding pictures submitted to the CSFA/California Casualty photo contest here.
Knowing the challenges and expenses new teachers face when setting up their classrooms as full-time educators, California Casualty introduced a $500 New Teacher Shopping Spree for student members of the NEA.
Shopping Spree Winner Katherine (center) with California Casualty’s Gabby Sole (left) and KNEA representatives.
Ms. Kirchhoff, a KNEA member, applied for the award while she was a student teacher in Olathe. She was hired this year to teach 4th grade at Piper East Elementary School in Kansas City.
“I am so thankful for this giveaway from California Casualty,” she said. “Being a first-year teacher, I didn’t realize all of the things I would need, and this money is going to help me get supplies that I planned to purchase for my classroom and students.”
Ms. Kirchhoff will use the funds for essentials, such as Expo markers, pens, paper, and other materials that will benefit her students.
Kansas Service Center’s Salvation Army Family Donations
To brighten the holidays for others, employees at our Kansas and Colorado Springs service centers chose to make a difference for families in need.
The Kansas Service Center Employee Activities Committee (EAC) adopted a family of four through the local Salvation Army. They bought dozens of toys, piles of clothing and hundreds of dollars in grocery gift cards to provide a joyous holiday for the three children and one adult.
Colorado Service Center’s Silver Key Donations filling the bed of a truck.
The EAC in Colorado Springs asked employees to purchase high-protein, nonperishable foods and personal care items for Silver Key Senior Services, which gives assistance to the elderly, many of whom are shut-ins or have very little family support.
The donations helped stock the emergency food pantry, which gets depleted during the holidays. Our employees brought in enough food and care items to fill the bed and cab of an EAC member’s pickup truck.
While winter weather has been lingering for a couple of months, there’s still more to come. Did you know that heavy rains, blizzards, and ice storms often arrive in February and March across many parts of the country?
Here are a few life-saving tips to remember as you get on the road this season.
Remove bulky coats/jackets when buckling children into car safety seats.
In an accident, the material will squish down and the harnessing system will be too loose to be effective. Layer blankets on your child’s lap after buckling them in.
A list of recommended warm clothing that won’t interfere with car seat safety can be found here.
Keep your gas tank at least half full.
This prevents water condensation from getting into and freezing up fuel lines. A frozen fuel line means limited gas supply to the engine, stopping you in your tracks.
Use wiper fluid that is formulated to NOT freeze.
Windshields coated with ice or splashback from roads create dangerous visibility. You will need to clean your windshield while driving, and only fluid that stays liquid will do the job.
Experts recommend carrying tire chains, jumper cables, a shovel, ice scraper, and even spare wiper blades. Otherlife-saving itemsinclude bottles of water, high-calorie foods and snacks, blankets or sleeping bags, a spare pair of boots, flashlights, gloves, solar cell phone chargers, and a first aid kit. Kitty litter for traction is also a good idea.
Be aware of deadly carbon monoxide in your vehicle(s).
If you can smell exhaust in your vehicle’s cabin, you should have your systems checked. Leaks in exhaust systems, defective ventilation systems, and even an unsecured back hatch or partially open trunk can allow carbon monoxide gas into your vehicle. Tailpipes blocked with snow or ice can send carbon monoxide into the vehicle too.
Also, warming a car in a garage, even with the door open, allows dangerous concentrations of the gas into the vehicle and even into your home.
It’s important that everyone knows the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Bring essential medications in case you get stranded.
Don’t venture out in extreme conditions unless it’s an emergency.
You are not only putting your life in danger, but also the lives of first responders who will have to venture out to search for you if you get lost or stranded.
Do you know the most popular time to receive jewelry? You guessed it – February. Now, do you know if your homeowner’s or renters’ insurance policy protects your jewelry? Whether you said “yes” or “no,” you are correct.
Here’s why: Your homeowner’s policy only provides limited coverage on certain high-value items. You may not receive the full value if a loss occurs. Scheduled Personal Property (SPP) insurance, sometimes called a floater, provides additional coverage of valuables – above and beyond what your home insurance provides.
Here are some very important advantages with Scheduled Personal Property plans:
Scheduled Personal Property (SPP) offers much broader coverage for your precious items – if you misplace a set of earrings, they are covered; if a diamond falls out of a ring, or a guitar neck breaks, they’re covered.
There is no deductible if the covered items are stolen, lost, or damaged.
SPP provides a replacement for the actual appraised value of the item.
SPP usually costs about one to two percent of the item’s value.
And, Scheduled Personal Property insurance isn’t just for jewelry; you might need the endorsement if you have:
Fine art
Furs
Coin or stamp collections
Expensive cameras
Firearms
Fine silverware
Sporting equipment
Antiques
And even if you already have gold and jewelryor a rare watch covered with Scheduled Personal Property coverage, you may need a review. Gold and diamond prices have climbed the past few years and you may not have enough protection for their new value.
By nature, many of us are collectors of stuff, and much of that stuff is valuable. Whether you have purchased your priceless items from exotic locations around the globe, inherited them or painstakingly monitored eBay to find them, you no doubt want to protect them.
TAKEAWAY: Don’t wait until your precious items are lost, stolen or damaged to find out if you have enough coverage to replace them. Contact CalCas Customer Service today, at 1.800.800.9410 option 3, or www.calcas.com/customer-service.
Super Bowl LIV: the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs was a very special game for us here at California Casualty. Not only was it the biggest football game of the year, but it was also the most important to our offices
As you might know, our headquarters are in San Mateo (SMO), California, 30 minutes outside of San Francisco; however, we also have a service center located in Kansas City (KSC).
So, in honor of both of our favorite teams facing off against each other, we decided to come together and do the same. As a company, we created our own in-office Super Bowl named, “Super Bowl LIV: Battle of the Offices.”
The Battle of the Offices may not have been as aggressive as the big game, but it was every bit as intense, as the offices battled against each other to raise money for local charities. CalCas employees in each office put money down on their Super Bowl favorite, knowing all proceeds would go to a charity in the hometown of the winner.
To encourage participation, a CalCas executive in each office agreed to match each donation up to the first $100, but thanks to our amazing employees ‒ and the raffle of a Patrick Mahomes jersey ‒ donations started pouring in and those numbers were quickly bypassed!
To keep track of who was in the lead, daily emails were sent to employees, along with some “friendly” trash-talking, of course. As the week went on and anticipation for the Super Bowl grew larger, so did the Battle of the Offices. Remote employees and field marketing managers living in different states even started sending in their donations to join in on the fun.
The offices were neck and neck all the way up until the end, much like the last half of the Super Bowl, but in this battle, California ultimately came out ahead.
The final tally was SMO: $640 – KSC: $623. Making the grand total = $1,263.
However, bragging rights is the only thing SMO will have to show for their victory, because the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV in a come-from-behind victory against the San Francisco 49ers! Meaning all proceeds raised from the Battle of the Offices will go to the Sunflower House, a non-profit children’s advocacy and abuse prevention center in the Kansas City metro area.
Thank you to both offices for all of the hard work you put in to make the Battle of the Offices a success, and congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs ‒ your Super Bowl LIV Champions!
TAKEAWAY: To see what other fun activities California Casualty’s employees enjoy, follow us on Facebook, Instagramor Pinterest and visit our blog at MyCalCas.com.
School Lounge Makeover winner Mary Gregoski (center) with NSEA Representative Jen Dubas and California Casualty’s Stephanie Whitmore enjoying the new Palmer School lounge
Palmer, NE, December 12, 2019 – The staff at Palmer Public School in Nebraska will now have a quiet place to relax and recharge during the school day, thanks to a $7,500 School Lounge Makeover® from California Casualty. The new lounge was unveiled on Tuesday.
“We are very appreciative of California Casualty for providing this for us,” said Palmer Schools’ Superintendent, Dr. Joel Bohlken. “This will make a big difference because we really didn’t have a place for our staff to go for a moment to unwind and relax before heading back to the classroom,” he added.
Palmer English teacher and school librarian, Mary Gregoski, submitted the winning entry for the makeover. “This means we will now have a place of our own to get a short break before we return to the teaching environment. We are just so grateful that California Casualty thinks about educators,” she said.
The new staff lounge at Palmer School features a TV, two massage chairs, soothing “bubble water wall art,” coffee station, new tables, a refrigerator, and colorful paint and accessories. EON Office designers maximized the area for comfort.
The $7,500 School Lounge Makeover giveaway was created to provide educators a more conducive environment to take a break, share time, and revitalize during their long days at school. This is the 13th School Lounge Makeover provided by California Casualty since the program began in 2011.
“We’ve seen the dedication of administrators, teachers, and staff firsthand and we’re proud to show our appreciation,” added California Casualty Sr. Vice President, Mike McCormick.
California Casualty has other giving programs that benefit public schools and educators, including:
“Keep On Course” safe driving campaign where educators who take a pledge to avoid distracted driving can register to win a new Jeep Compass, WinAJeepCompass.com/NEA.
Thomas R. Brown Athletics Grants, providing $1,000 to $3,000 to middle school and high school sports and athletic programs in need, calcasathleticsgrant.com
Founded in 1914, California Casualty provides auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters and nurses across the country. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, with service centers in Arizona, Colorado, and Kansas, California Casualty has been led by four generations of the Brown family. More information about California Casualty can be found at www.calcas.com
San Mateo, CA, December 11, 2019– California Casualty congratulates the 45 public school educators named 2020 California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence recipients.
The awards highlight educators from around the country cited by their peers for their dedication to the profession, community engagement, professional development, attention to diversity and advocacy for fellow educators.
“This year’s awardees are fulfilling the promise of public education in the classrooms, schools, and communities from coast to coast,” said Sara A. Sneed, President, and CEO, the NEA Foundation. “Each awardee has met a very high standard, and together, they are celebrated for a shared commitment to educational excellence, innovative approaches to student learning, and support for their peers. We are grateful to California Casualty for its recognition and celebration of the very best in education, and we look forward to honoring the 2020 California Casualty Awards for Teaching Excellence awardees.”
“We are proud to honor these exceptional educators and show our appreciation for their incredible work,” said Beau Brown, Chairman of the California Casualty Board. “The California Casualty awardees exemplify educators’ ability to be a positive force in their student’s lives.”
Each California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence awardee’s school will receive a $150 stipend from California Casualty to purchase items to enhance classrooms. The awardees will also participate in the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Gala, held February 7, 2020 in Washington, D.C. The gala will be live-streamed at neafoundation.org.
The NEA Foundation and the National Education Association jointly present the awards.
The NEA Foundation is a public charity founded by educators for educators to improve public education for all students. Since our beginning in 1969, the Foundation has served as a laboratory of learning, offering funding and other resources to public school educators, their schools, and districts to solve complex teaching and learning challenges. We elevate and share educator solutions to ensure greater reach and impact on student learning. We believe that when educators unleash their own power, ideas, and voices, communities, schools, and students all benefit. Visit neafoundation.org for more information.
ABOUT CALIFORNIA CASUALTY:
California Casualty has been serving the insurance needs of educators since 1951, and is the only auto and home insurance company to earn the trust and endorsement of the NEA. As a result, NEA members qualify for exceptional rates, deductibles waived for vandalism or collisions to your vehicle parked at school, holiday or summer skip payment plans and free Identity Defense protection – exclusive benefits not available to the general public. Learn how to save by getting a quote at www.calcas.com/NEA, or by calling 1.800.800.9410.
Do you know the most popular time to receive jewelry? You guessed it – February. Now, do you know if your homeowner’s or renters’ insurance policy protects your jewelry? Whether you said “yes” or “no,” you are correct.
To keep track of who was in the lead, daily emails were sent to employees, along with some “friendly” trash-talking, of course. As the week went on and anticipation for the Super Bowl grew larger, so did the Battle of the Offices. Remote employees and field marketing managers living in different states even started sending in their donations to join in on the fun.
