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SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance is inviting America to go on a coast-to-coast tour to thank America's teachers. In partnership with PGA TOUR players, Rickie Fowler and Charley Hoffman, Farmers Insurance officially launched the national Thank America's Teachers initiative at the Tee It Up! for Kids Youth Golf Clinic on Tuesday by casting the first thank you to former San Diego teacher and golf coach, Bob Champion. After the clinic, held at the storied Torrey Pines golf course, dozens of youth shared their thank yous to teachers who have made a difference in their lives.

Through Thank America's Teachers, Farmers will give away more than $1,000,000 to educators in 2015 and the public will help determine how to spend it at www.ThankAmericasTeachers.com. Farmers Insurance will go on a coast-to-coast tour in an iconic yellow school bus providing opportunities for the public to say thank you to teachers across the nation. In addition, Farmers will award 180 grants valued at $2,500 and six Dream Big Teacher Challenge grants of $100,000 each to help support innovative educational programs in communities across the country.

"Farmers Insurance believes in the power of smart. Our agents receive award-winning training at the University of Farmers so that they can make their customers smarter about insurance.  Similarly, teachers across America give their time, talent and knowledge to ensure that our children become smarter and better prepared for the future," said Jeff Dailey, chief executive officer for Farmers Insurance.  "Inspired by the great work done by teachers every day, we created the Thank America's Teacher initiative to help teachers build better classrooms and better schools."

At stops in communities across the country, America can join Farmers at the Thank America's Teachers bus where they will be able to share a thank you and vote for their favorite teacher proposal. The bus schedule will be posted online at www.ThankAmericasTeachers.com following the Farmers Insurance Open.

Whether online or at one of the scheduled bus tour stops, if members of the public have the email address of a teacher they wish to thank, the thank you will be delivered to the teacher in the form of an electronic postcard. It's a simple and fun way to let teachers know of the difference they have made in our lives, and to invite the teacher to apply for one of almost 200 educational grants.

The announcement of the Thank America's Teachers initiative came as a surprise to more than 300 cheering San Diego students and teachers attending the Tee It Up! for Kids Youth Golf Clinic, which is part of the Farmers Insurance Open's week-long charity events.

In addition to announcing the launch of the Thank America's Teachers initiative, Farmers has contributed $200,000 to the Birdies for Charity Bonus Pool, a pledge-based program where 12 deserving organizations go out into the community and collect pledges for their organization.  Last year, this pledge-program raised more than $800,000 for programs including The First Tee of San Diego (Pro Kids Golf Academy and Learning Center), Social Advocates for Youth (SAY San Diego), The Preuss School and Voices for Children. 

"The Farmers Insurance Open is about much more than golf.  It's about giving back to the community," said Tony DeSantis, president of personal lines for Farmers. "In addition to launching an initiative to help and thank educators across America, we wanted to be sure to recognize local charities for the positive impact they are having on the youth of San Diego."

Ways the public can join the effort to Thank America's Teachers:

• Go to www.ThankAmericasTeachers.com to thank a teacher and vote for a teacher's proposal.
• In addition to the website, we invite America to stop by the Thank America's Teachers bus to thank a teacher in person at one of the many on-site kiosks. The public can visit www.ThankAmericasTeachers.com to find a list of scheduled bus appearances throughout the year.
• Once thanked online, teachers can visit www.ThankAmericasTeachers.com to submit a proposal for a $2,500 grant and for one of six $100,000 grants as part of the Dream Big Teacher Challenge.

About Farmers

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is a leading U.S. insurer group of automobiles, homes and small businesses and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 22,000 employees.  For more information about Farmers, visit its Web site at www.farmers.com or at www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

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SOURCE Farmers Insurance