September Newsletter

Staff Spotlight – Betty Favela

Betty is one of our friendly and helpful Insurance Service Representatives. If you need to change your insurance coverage, add a car or if you’ve been in an accident and need help getting your claim started, Betty is your girl. She’s getting ready to celebrate 15 years here at Apollo. She enjoys helping customers navigate through the insurance world, answering their questions and finding them the right insurance for their needs. Betty explained “I love helping customers and giving them peace of mind so they know they’re protected.” It’s easy to see why she loves the comic book and movie superhero, “Wonder Woman”.

In her spare time, Betty enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, son and two dogs. Her family time is the most important time to her and they all enjoy going to concerts and movies together especially if Keanu Reeves is in the starring role. And of course she’ll be first in line for the next “Wonder Woman” installment. We hope you get a chance to meet Betty soon!

Fun Facts about Labor Day

Labor day is almost here. This year it falls on Monday, September 3rd. Here are some interesting facts that you may not know:

1. Most Americans think of Labor Day as an American Holiday, but Labor Day started in Canada.
2. Some of the first festivities included speeches, a picnic, an abundance of cigars and beer kegs mounted in every conceivable place. (Why did this stop?)
3. The reason for Labor Day was outlined in the proposal for the holiday – “A street parade to exhibit to the public the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organization.”
4. Nobody knows who actually started Labor Day.
5. The first Labor Day celebration in the U.S. can be traced back to New York City on September 5, 1882.
6. Oregon was the first, then Colorado, New York, Massachusetts & New Jersey followed as the first states to declare Labor Day a state holiday.
7. Labor Day is always celebrated on the first Monday in September. It’s one of the busiest travel days.
8. The “no white” after Labor Day is actually symbolic to the uniforms that were worn.
9. The celebration of Labor Day is for anyone in the workforce.

Labor Day also signifies the end of summer. (Gasp!)

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – NeoNatal Unit

Two of our favorite causes here at Apollo are animals and children. We enjoy doing whatever we can to help. Recently we were able to help the great people of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) neo-natal unit. They’re the people who care for premature babies, some of which may be as small as the size of your hand. These fragile babies need extra TLC and the neo-natal unit are the ones to dispense it. But they need help with funding to keep the unit running. To help spread awareness to the community and raise needed funds, their ambassadors wear preemie diaper pins on their lapels which say “Ask me about this” It definitely gets attention and helps get a conversation going – the diapers are so teeny-tiny, you realize how tiny the babies must be.

A group of us got together and assembled 480 preemie diaper pins for the representatives at CHLA to wear. We were so happy to get this done and help this great cause.

September is Disaster Preparedness Month – there’s an app for that!

Now you can be prepared to protect your property from damage the next time a disaster strikes with a new iPhone® app from the Opens in new window Insurance Information Institute(I.I.I.) and the Opens in new window Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety(IBHS).

The Opens in new window Your Plan app was developed by the I.I.I. and uses a set of resources and checklists from the IBHS to help you minimize property damage from severe weather and other disasters. Preparing yourself and your property against damage can minimize losses and make your homeowners insurance provider happy.

Start with preloaded checklists built into the Your Planapp to learn how to prepare for disasters and minimize property damage. Monitor events with local emergency information right from the app. Set due dates, add notes, track your progress—even create and share custom checklists with friends and family.

The Opens in new window Your Plan app is free to download from the Apple® App Store and is an easy way to help make sure you’re prepared in the event of a disaster.