By: Matthew C. Bloom–
Muncie, IN–A new website called http://www.muncielovesteachers.com allows friends of MCS teachers to support their families as retroactive insurance premiums are deducted from paychecks this academic year.
Pat McCrory teaches 5th grade at Grissom Elementary. When his wife, Lezlie, saw how much the deficit reduction plan was hurting their family budget, she took to Facebook to share her shock.
“… This week, MCS teachers got what amounts to a pay cut for the next nine months. Ours amounts to over $500/month loss of income,” Lezlie posted, on September 20th.
Matt Bloom has been a friend and neighbor of the McCrorys for years. Concerned, Bloom called Pat to see what could be done for teachers. They discussed several options.
“I felt that whatever we do, it shouldn’t be so much about alleviating all the financial burden so much as boosting teacher morale,” Pat said.
Paying off what teachers owed the school system would require collecting $700,000, according to The Star Press. Collecting all that money would not be feasible in the short term. Instead, Bloom asked local marketing professionals to help create a simple way for people concerned about teachers to give directly to them.
With the help of Matt Howell of Farmhouse Creative; Ashli Smith of Spotted Monkey Marketing; George Foley of Tailored Technology; and Mark Slusher of Endpoint Creative, Muncie Loves Teachers was born.
The idea is simple. Teachers submit a listing to be on the directory and include a PayPal ID. Donors (friends, family, or just concerned members of the Muncie community) can easily click a link to donate. Both teacher and donor must have or create a free PayPal account.
Matt Howell donated several hours of his time to build the site.
“The Muncie business and non-profit community has been great to Farmhouse Creative, and this is another way we can give back,” Howell said.
The list of teachers on the site is growing as more teachers become aware that this program is available.
“Teachers need a morale boost right now more than ever, while they’re experiencing these pay cuts,” Bloom said. “Ultimately this is about our community’s children. Lift up the teacher, you lift up the classroom.”
The Muncie Loves Teachers website will be up through June 30th, 2018.
If you are a teacher and would like to be included, please visit the site to add your name to the directory. The video below provides you with complete instructions on how you can donate and walks you through the process, step-by-step.
