Press Release

(L to R: First Financial’s VP of Marketing and Business Development, Assistant VP of Business Development, Grant Recipient Theresa Eagan, and Principal Walter Therien).

FREEHOLD, N.J. – New Egypt’s Dr. Gerald H. Woehr Elementary School third grade teacher, Theresa Eagan, was recently surprised by members of the First Financial Foundation with a $159.96 Erma Dorrer classroom grant for the 2019-2020 school year.

Eagan submitted a grant application to purchase educational tools to teach her third grade classes about financial education and banking, as part of the school district’s economics curriculum within the social studies department.

“Our third grade classes learn how banking works in terms of savings, deposits, and withdrawals,” said Eagan. “I would like to have a hands-on ATM toy machine that would enable the children to see how ATMs operate. It would be beneficial for the students to be able to create a PIN, use an ATM card, and see how banking transactions take place. It would also be educational for our students to see how savings is important.”

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.”