27 Allstate employees earn $24,000 grant for local nonprofit

27 Allstate agency owners, personal financial representatives and licensed sales professionals from the New York City area recently came together to secure a $24,000 Allstate Foundation Helping Hands® Grant to benefit the Building Blocks Foundation. The grant will support the Building Blocks Foundation’s mission to improve the educational experience for public school students who are economically challenged or homeless.

The agency owners, personal financial representatives and licensed sales professionals earned the grant for the Building Blocks Foundation by participating in the first annual Sock Walk. The Allstate volunteers and their families delivered more than 1,000 pairs of socks and 500 pairs of women’s underwear to the homeless and homeless shelters across New York City. The Building Blocks Foundation will use the $24,000 grant to further its work.

The participants are among thousands of agency owners, personal financial representatives and licensed sales professionals around the country working to improve communities by volunteering for the causes they care about most.

“Our Allstate volunteers brought their families along on the Sock Walk to see firsthand the opportunities and challenges facing the communities they serve and live in,” said Jay Mota, Allstate Personal Financial Representative & Certified Business Planner and founder of the Building Blocks Foundation. “Giving back is core to who we are, which is why we’re proud to volunteer and improve lives for those less fortunate across New York City.”

Participating Allstate agency owners, personal financial representatives and licensed sales professionals include (in alphabetical order):

• Emil Albanese, White Plains
• Christopher Butz, Bedford Hills
• Salvatore Carollo, Congers
• Marcella Cofre, White Plains
• Deirdre Cosgrove, White Plains
• Agata Czaczkowski, New City
• Deborah Depool, West Nyack
• Kevin Franchino, West Nyack
• Matthew Franchino, New City
• Kevin Franchino, West Nyack
• Christopher Hamilla, New City
• Jesus Juarez Osorio, Suffern
• Robert LaBarbera, Mamaroneck
• Robert Manavola, Suffern
• Vanessa Martinez, Hartsdale
• Thomas McDermott, Astoria
• Jay Mota, West Nyack
• Theresa Mota, White Plains
• Romesh Narain, Bedford Hills
• Elizabeth Nunez-Troy, New York
• Andrea Paxton, Hastings
• Antonio Reyes, New York
• Debbie Stockton, Bronxville
• Anthony Taylor, Hartsdale
• Julianna Telesco, Bronxville
• Yadira Urena, Congers
• Damika Wells, Mamaroneck

Jay Mota is also the 2018 recipient of the Ray Lynch Community Service award in New York for his work with the Building Blocks Foundation. The Ray Lynch Community Service award is Allstate’s top national honor recognizing an agency owner or financial specialist for the way he or she gives back and makes a difference in the community. Each winner is awarded a $2,000 grant from The Allstate Foundation that is to be donated to the organization they each support.

The Building Blocks Foundation is one of thousands of organizations this year to receive Allstate Foundation Helping Hands Grants secured by agency owners, financial specialists, and licensed sales professionals on behalf of the nonprofits where they volunteer. The grants support organizations addressing domestic violence, youth empowerment, disaster preparedness, hunger and other causes.

The Helping Hands Grants are one example of The Allstate Foundation’s legacy of service and giving:

• Since The Allstate Foundation was founded in 1952, it has contributed over $449 million to support community nonprofits. In 2017, The Allstate Foundation contributed more than $33 million to support local communities.