Amica Press Releases

03.05.10

Amica Donates Additional $7,500 to RI Military Family Relief Fund

William Sloyer, a manager in Amica’s Special Investigations Unit, presents a check to Todd Tinkham, chief financial officer for the office of the adjutant general; Kevin McDonnell, Family Assistance Center coordinator; Lt. Col Jeannie Vachon, Family Assistance Center director; Col. Mark Habershaw; director of personnel for the Rhode Island National Guard; Donna Bray; and Maj. Gen. Robert Bray.

LINCOLN, RI – Amica has donated an additional $7,500 to the Rhode Island Military Family Relief Fund, bringing the company’s total donation to the fund to $35,000 over the past four years.

William Sloyer, a manager in Amica’s special investigations unit, presented the most recent check for $7,500 to Major Gen. Robert T. Bray, commanding general of the Rhode Island National Guard, saying Amica was proud to support the families of men and women serving our country.

The money will be used by the Family Relief Fund to provide emergency financial assistance to members of the Rhode Island National Guard, Army Reserves, Navy Reserves, Marine Reserves and U.S. Coast Guard Reserves and/or their families impacted by mobilization and deployment.

The Family Relief Fund was created in 2005 and is funded entirely through private donations, such as those given by Amica, said Kevin McDonnell, the program’s coordinator. It provides grants of up to $2,500 for soldiers or families who face a financial crisis within a year of deployment, such as struggling to pay their mortgage, rent, utility or medical bills or other unexpected major expenses. It also provides automatic grants of $2,500 to any Rhode Island soldier or Rhode Island-based soldier who is awarded the Purple Heart as a result of being injured during combat.

It already has given out more than $331,000 as of March 1, 2010, said Todd Tinkham, chief financial officer for the adjutant general’s office.

Sloyer said Amica decided to donate to the Family Relief Fund several years ago because Robert A. DiMuccio, the chairman, president and CEO of Amica, “has a soft place in his heart for those in the military.” Sloyer noted that several members of the company’s board of directors are military veterans, as are many of Amica’s employees – including Sloyer, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. The company donates to this particular fund, he said, because “we know this money gets to the people who need it.”

Amica’s donation means “we can sustain a program that is vital to our service members at this particular time,” Bray said. He went on to note: “At no other time in our history have we been so dependent on our National Guard as right now. The impact on our families is huge. The income in that fund (means) our service members can be deployed and know they don’t have to worry about anybody back home.”

Amica Mutual Insurance Company, the nation’s oldest mutual insurer of automobiles, was founded in 1907. The company, with corporate headquarters in Lincoln, Rhode Island, is a national writer of automobile, homeowners, marine, and personal umbrella liability insurance. Life coverage is available through Amica Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary. Amica employs more than 3,200 people in 40 offices across the country and has been writing insurance in New Hampshire since 1927.