EB's TeacherDollars program needs your vote

In order to win a $25,000 grant to be used for low-income, inner-city school kids, health care benefits card processor Evolution Benefits Inc. is asking for a little help from the payments industry. EB needs to crack the top 10 in the number of votes it receives for its TeacherDollars prepaid card program to win the grant awarded by the Pepsi Refresh Project, a monthly online contest that offers monetary rewards for good ideas on how to improve communities.

Through TeacherDollars, EB issues "special-purpose" prepaid debit cards to teachers in the Hartford, Conn., public school system, said Lynda Godkin, TeacherDollars Program Director for Evolution Benefits.

Teachers use the MasterCard Worldwide-branded cards to purchase school supplies from merchants – such as bookstores and grocery and office supply stores – that participate in the Hartford school improvement plan. The supplies mainly focus on increasing the literacy and math skills of students.

Benefits abound

According to Godkin, TeacherDollars has distributed approximately 1,500 cards worth $320,000 since 2006, with $200 typically loaded on each card. For the 2010-2011 school year, EB has raised $139,500 toward its goal of $200,000 that will be used to fund 880 cards to be distributed to deserving teachers in 22 schools. The $25,000 Pepsi grant would move TeacherDollars closer to its $200,000 objective, Godkin said.

To fund the cards, EB relies on donations from individuals and organizations, such as Newman's Own Foundation and the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation Inc. (Robert E. Patricelli is the founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Evolution Benefits.)

Godkin said the idea for TeacherDollars came from Patricelli, who grew up in Hartford. He had an "aha moment" when he realized that EB's prepaid card technology could improve the education in Hartford's schools by supplying its teachers with a payment tool for purchasing items that are not budgeted by the schools, Godkin said.

For teachers who annually spend an average of $1,000 out of their own pockets for additional classroom materials, EB's program helps teachers ease that burden, she added.

Children in need

Hartford is the second poorest city in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Urban Environmental Program in New England. Its population is largely minority (African-American and Hispanic) with a median income of $11,081 (2007 statistics). Godkin said Hartford is considered a "mecca" for recent immigrants, many coming from the Caribbean islands of the West Indies.

With parents often working multiple jobs and any one of 22 different languages spoken by students, Hartford's teachers are confronted with daunting educational challenges, Godkin said.

Godkin reports that since the beginning of July, when EB entered TeacherDollars in the PepsiCo.-sponsored philanthropic program, TeacherDollars has steadily risen in the ranks. Out of 1,102 nominations, it garnered enough votes to land in 146th place after two weeks in the competition. As of Monday, July 26, it ranked 61st, Godkin said.

But in order to qualify for the $25,000 grant, TeacherDollars needs to be in the top 10 by July 31, when the voting ends. To vote for TeacherDollars, go to www.refresheverything.com/teacherdollars and click on "Vote for this idea." Then follow the registration prompts. Participants can vote once per day per each unique registered email address.

Godwin said participants can also vote by text message by texting "100295" to "73774". To learn more about TeacherDollars, go to www.myteacherdollars.com/ .

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