Press Release

(L to R: First Financial’s VP of Marketing and Business Development, Grant recipient Mrs. Kim Haug, and Assistant VP of Business Development).

FREEHOLD, N.J. – Brick Township High School woodshop teacher, Kim Haug, was recently surprised by members of the First Financial Foundation with a $500 Erma Dorrer classroom grant for the 2019-2020 school year.

Haug submitted a grant application to purchase a woodshop jointer for her classroom, as the high school is over 50 years old and the current machinery in the woodshop is original to when the school first opened. Some of the original machines are still working and have been repaired, however the classroom’s jointer is unfortunately beyond restoration at this point in time.

“I teach woodshop to a great group of students,” said Haug. “My students are very creative, and they design and construct great wooden projects, but with the lack of good working machines – they are limited in the quality of their finished projects. I would love to be able to use the grant money to offer my students a gift that will be used to improve the quality of their projects. A new jointer would be a worthwhile and necessary addition to our wood shop.”

Since First Financial began with a group of Asbury Park schoolteachers back in 1936, the credit union has not forgotten its educational roots. That is why its Foundation offered current Monmouth and Ocean County educators seven (7) classroom grants to use at their schools for the 2019-2020 school year.

“Education has and always will be a pivotal piece of our organization, and we’re delighted to be able to help our local educators enhance their classroom experience,” said First Financial President & CEO, Issa Stephan.

Stephan also noted that the Foundation committee had a tough job of choosing just seven winning teachers out of the numerous applications received this year. “We received double the amount of classroom grant entries this year, which included heartwarming essays and videos from educators hoping to use the grant money to implement or maintain a variety of creative programs within their schools,” said Stephan. “We wish we were able to reward each and every one of our participants, and after extremely careful consideration we selected the seven initiatives in which we felt the grant money would have the largest impact.”