During last week's 2019 Big “I" Legislative Conference general session breakfast, Joe Leahy, Big “I" chairman, presented the 2019 Dan Fulwider Award for Community Involvement to Frank Jones, partner at Mints Insurance Agency in Millville, New Jersey.
Each year, Trusted Choice® acknowledges the time, effort and enthusiasm its member agencies give back to their communities. One agent who made community involvement a priority was Dan Fulwider—a former government affairs coordinator and membership liaison for the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, who inspired many people with his personality and dedication to his community.
In recognition of Fulwider's community involvement, Trusted Choice established an annual $2,500 award for a selected agency to donate to a charity of its choice. This year, the money will go to the Voices Project—a nonprofit whose primary mission is to provide resources to communities affected by America's addiction crisis by inspiring civic engagement and participation.
“This year's winner has been on the front lines of advocating for addiction recovery reform," Leahy said when presenting the award. “Having faced the addiction problem with one of his family members, he wants to do everything in his power to help others and their families facing similar situations."
Jones is the founder of RecoveryReformNow, which advocates for state and national policy reforms that remove access barriers to addiction treatment. In 2017, RecoveryReformNow was responsible for pushing through a New Jersey law which requires coverage for substance use disorder treatment. Last fall, Governor Brown signed another one of the group's bills into law, prohibiting patient brokering.
“Since I joined the independent agent system, my life has been about giving back to others," Jones said when accepting the award. “This is the best industry. You've heard the quote 'Insurance is the oxygen of our economy'—as true as that statement is, Trusted Choice® independent insurance agents are the oxygen of our communities. No matter how large that community is or what cause you're focused on, go out there and continue making a difference."